Heroes Need Heroes
by Aedien
Summary: Flash comes to Mt. Justice looking for Wally, but finds Dick instead. As they talk they soon become concerned by Kid Flash's absence. After all Wally never misses a free meal. So they team up to track down the missing speedster.
1. Chinese in China

AN: This actually came about because I liked the idea of a speedster telling Rob about having Chinese in China. It just sort of got out of hand after that ^_^'

Robin blinked and looked up in surprise as the computer announced the arrival of a familiar speedster, but not the one he would expect, "Flash?"

The man was at his side at the blink of an eye, "Hey Mini-Bats," he glanced around the room as he spoke, "Say, have you seen Wally anywhere?"

Robin tilted his head at the older man, "I talked to him yesterday, but he isn't here. Why?"

Flash ignored the question and put a hand to his chin, "Where did that kid get to?"

Dick's eyebrows came together and he frowned, "Is everything okay?"

The Flash turned to him, his own face mirroring the boy's expression, "He asked me to have lunch with him since we haven't seen each other much lately, but he never showed."

"Lunch?"

Flash smiled, "Yeah, we were heading out for some Chinese."

"In your costume?"

The smiled widened, "Chinese in China."

"Ah," Robin chuckled, "Well if you want I can give him a call with the YJ communicator."

"Do you mind? I already tried his cell and the frequency that we use, but he didn't answer."

Robin ran a hand through his hair, "That's weird."

"I thought so too," Barry smiled, "Wally never misses an opportunity for free food."

Dick flashed the older man a smile, "Maybe he just got caught up with something."

He tapped a key on his wrist computer and waited expectantly, the device beeped several times, but there was no answer.

The Boy Wonder frowned, suddenly concerned by his friend's lack of response and hit the call button again. He looked up at Barry and he could see that the older hero was tense, "He's not answering me either."

Flash's mouth was set in a hard line and he took a deep breath through his nose before he turned his gaze back to the younger hero. He pointed to his wrist, "Can you trace him on that thing?"

Robin nodded, already typing away on the holographic screen, "Working on it, but maybe you should call Batman."

Flash nodded, reaching up to tap the communicator in his ear, "Good idea."

As Robin worked to trace the younger speedster's whereabouts he could hear Flash talking to his mentor while he paced across the room at a dizzying speed.

After a few minutes Flash ended the call and moved to stand behind Batman's protégé watching the screen over his shoulder, "Find him yet kiddo?"

Dick tapped a few more keys, "There's something interfering with the signal, I'm trying to narrow down an exact location, but right now it looks like he's somewhere in Gotham."

Barry put a hand on his hip, "What the heck is he doing there?"

Dick stood with a shrug, "I have no idea, I can't think of any reason for him to be there."

Flash crouched down with his back to the teen, "Well Bats told me to meet him at the Batcave, so hop on."

The Boy Wonder raised an eyebrow, but he switched off his computer and leaned down to put his arms around the man's shoulders. Barry stood, hooking his arms under the dark haired teen's knees, "Hold on."

Robin swallowed, preparing himself for the inevitable burst of speed, but he still felt his stomach lurch as they shot out of the base.

The wind roared in his ears and whipped through his hair, he tried to look ahead, but at the speed they were going the wind stung his eyes and he was forced to close them and duck behind Flash's head.

A few short minutes later his stomach lurched again and he heard Barry skid to a halt, his eyes blinked open to a familiar sight.

They were in the Batcave and when he looked up he could see that Flash was carrying him toward the computer where Batman was waiting for them.

He fidgeted, wanting to be put down, Barry obliged, but he reached out and put an arm around his shoulders to steady him as he stumbled, "Easy kid, you might feel a little lightheaded."

Robin shook his head trying to rid himself of his dizziness, "I'm okay." he glanced up at the speedster, "KF doesn't accelerate as fast as you do."

Barry smiled, "He can, but he probably takes it easy for your sake." he patted the boy on the shoulder, "Sorry about that, I don't usually have passengers so I didn't think about it until we were halfway to Gotham."

Dick nodded then turned to face Batman, "Thanks for helping out."

Batman nodded to his protégé as he brushed past him and plugged the cable from his wrist into the Batcave's computer. He tapped a few keys and a map of the city popped up on the screen, "His communicator says he's here in the city, and he isn't moving. Both of those things are worrying."

Batman glanced up at the screen then over at Flash, "He's in the industrial sector. Any idea why Kid would come to Gotham Barry?"

The Flash shrugged, "The only reason I can think of is that he came to see Dick."

Robin disconnected his computer and walked to Batman's side shaking his head, "No, he knew I was going to be at Mt. Justice today."

Bruce sighed looking back at the screen, "Something about this feels wrong. Lets go to this location so we can find out what's going on."

He turned, his cape billowing out behind him as he strode toward the Batmobile with Robin at his heels, "Follow us Barry."

Flash appeared beside the car nodding and obviously ready to get moving; Bruce glanced at the other man and, in an uncharacteristically kind gesture, put his hand on his friend's shoulder, "I'm sure Kid Flash is fine. We'll find him.'

Flash offered him a small smile as Batman got into the car and strapped on his seat belt, "Thanks Bruce."

Batman didn't answer as he stared the car and drove out of the cave, Flash following along beside them.

Robin gazed out the window as they sped through the city, he could tell that the citizens were surprised to see the Batmobile out before sunset and even more so to see it accompanied by Central City's Scarlet Speedster.

Dick felt his mood darkening as they moved further into the shadier parts of town and he soon found himself checking every few seconds to reconfirm Wally's position. He could tell his mentor was watching him out of the corner of his eye, but thankfully Bruce didn't comment.

The Batmobile silently pulled up along the side of the factory that the signal was coming from with the Flash close behind. Batman and Robin got out of the car to see Flash standing staring up at the old building, "So he's in there?"

Dick checked his screen yet again, though he already knew what it would say, "The signal's coming from here."

Without a word Batman led the way into the building, Robin followed with a small shrug and Flash brought up the rear. The room was musty and dimly lit and filled with heavy machinery that was rusted over with age.

Barry frowned, "Why does it seem like Gotham never tears anything down? This place should be condemned."

Batman pointed to a faded sign taped to one of the dirty windows, "It is."

Robin looked around nervously, still tracking his friend's signal, "He's over this way."

He turned toward the back of the building with the adults close behind him; as he skirted one of the machines a familiar scent reached his nose and his stomach clenched in fear.

He bolted forward, heedless of the potential danger and the concerned voices behind him, "KF?" he weaved among the machines trying to get closer to the source of the signal, "Kid Flash! Where are you?"

Dick turned another corner and slipped as he hit something slick and his mind reeled as the metallic scent of blood threatened to overwhelm him. The Boy Wonder felt himself being caught by strong hands and looked up to see that Batman had prevented him from falling.

"Oh please no."

The dread in Flash's voice had him snapping his head up to see what had scared the hero. His breath caught in his throat and it was only Batman's strong grip on his shoulders that kept him from panicking.

Kid Flash's boots were laying on the floor in a pool of red and his communicator was blinking nearby, he jerked backwards against his mentor's chest as he realized that he had slipped in blood.

_Wally's blood_, his mind supplied.

Batman passed his trembling ward to Flash and stepped forward to examine the scene. He silently noted that there was almost no splatter, but there was a bloody hand print just outside the main pool of blood and evidence of a body being dragged for a few feet before the trail disappeared.

_He was trying to escape, but someone carried him away. _

After taking a few pictures he took a sample of the blood, tucked the communicator into his belt and reached for the discarded boots.

He picked up the closest one and nearly dropped it when there was a burst of confetti followed by a clown on a spring that cackled evilly. He recovered quickly, ignoring Robin's gasp of horror and Flash's quieter curse as he reached for the other boot.

He glared into the footwear then warily reached inside to extract a playing card, the card was a joker, though he needed no further evidence to know who was behind the young speedster's disappearance.

Batman flipped the card over and froze, the back of the card depicted a robin and suddenly he understood what this whole thing was about.

As he had investigated his companions had regained some of their composure and he turned to see Dick staring around him with wide, terrified eyes.

"Oh God."

Bruce set the boots down and reached out to steady he boy, "Calm down."

Robin looked at the blood on the floor and on his shoes, "This is about me. He's using KF to get to me! Oh God, Wally!"

Bruce turned him away from the mess and tossed out a couple of vials of chemicals that quickly bubbled and spread to break down the blood and destroy the speedster's DNA, then whisked the boy out of the building.

Barry followed silently carrying his nephew's boots, Bruce glanced back at the shaken hero and quickened his pace.

Once they were outside Flash slumped against the wall, clutching the bright yellow boots in trembling hands; Batman urged Robin to sit on the hood of the Batmobile and turned back when the speedster spoke, his voice tight.

"It's the Joker isn't it Bats?" he looked up at his friend with troubled eyes, "That was his calling card and he's got Wally…."

Batman's frown deepened, "It looks that way."

Robin reached up and grabbed his mentor's arm, "Batman, he's….there was a lot of blood in there."

Bruce turned back to the boy, reminded once again of how young his ward was despite his maturity, "That wasn't enough to kill a speedster. His metabolism is quick enough that he would be able to survive, but…it's likely he's unconscious right now."

He looked back at Barry who was getting himself together and pushed himself away from the wall, though he kept tight hold on Wally's boots, "Yes, but I doubt the Joker's given him anything to eat, and that'll take a toll on his ability to heal."

Robin shuddered and looked up to see the sun beginning to set, "It's going to be cold tonight." he clenched his fists, "We need to find him fast."

Batman glanced from Barry to Dick and back again, "Are you two going to be alright?"

Flash zipped to his side, "I won't let my boy down." Robin's head snapped up, caught off guard by the dark tone in the normally lighthearted hero's voice, "Joker's going to regret pissing me off."

Dick glanced up at Bruce, noting that even his mentor seemed taken aback by the anger radiating off the speedster, "I-I'm going too Bruce," he silently cursed himself for stuttering, "Joker did this because of me, I won't forgive him for hurting my friend."

Batman gazed down at his partner, taking in his stiff posture and the determination his face, and decided to let the boy's use of his name slide, "Alright, then lets get moving."


	2. Well this sucks

AN: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! Some of your comments helped me add to and edit this chapter so hopefully it will live up to everyone's expectations. So enjoy!

Wally awoke slowly, every inch of his body throbbing with pain, fuzzy images swirled through his mind as he drifted in and out of consciousness. As he moved toward full waking he heard voices and felt someone grabbing his chin, he groaned. He was vaguely aware of laughter and his head was shoved back, colliding with something hard then everything went black once more.

He didn't know how much time had passed when he felt consciousness creeping up on him once more, somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he was in trouble and that he needed to wake up, but pain was lurking on the edges of his awareness and he was reluctant to face it.

Eventually he opened his eyes, blinking as he tried to clear his vision. He took a few deep breaths and after several long moments he realized that he was looking at his own bare feet, shackled to a wall, suspended a few inches off the concrete floor.

He looked himself over and was mildly surprised to see that his left side was covered in blood, staining his uniform from his ribs, down his hip and halfway down his thigh, _What the hell…?_

He idly took stock of his injuries, he could see that there were a number of shallow wounds along his legs, but they didn't look deep, a quick glance up at his arms and revealed the same.

He was a bit dizzy and his head was throbbing; he scrunched his eyes shut and he could feel something sticky on his skin. Wally frowned as hazy memories of hitting his head hard drifted through his mind.

_Stab wound to my left abdominals, lacerations on my arms and legs, possible concussion, damn, somebody really worked me over._

For a moment he was amused by his own detachment as he categorized his wounds using the proper terminology, but the moment didn't last long; he shivered, suddenly very aware of the cold concrete at his back and his amusement passed.

The red head shifted, feeling the cuffs that were holding him up digging into his wrists, he winced and drew in a sharp breath. He already regretted waking up at all when pain flared in his side, but the feeling brought him to full consciousness and he began to search his memories for how he had ended up in his current predicament.

He was glad to note that he was still wearing his mask, but he couldn't help but wonder what had happened to his boots and his socks.

He tried to think back, finding his memories scattered and unclear; Wally took a deep breath and forced himself to focus. He remembered doing a quick patrol of Central City on his way to meet his uncle, turning a corner and hitting something sticky that had stopped his feet resulting in him slamming hard into the pavement.

He had been rattled and the wind had been knocked out of him, Wally grit his teeth, he remembered flashes of green and purple, gasping for breath and getting a lungful of some sort of gas.

As his memory began to piece itself together he vaguely recalled being in some sort of warehouse with someone asking him questions that he had refused to answer, then the flash of a knife followed by pain.

As he went over it again trying to remember the specifics he heard footsteps approaching the door to the room. His training quickly took over; in spite of the pain he forced himself to go limp in his bindings, closed his eyes, and evened out his breathing.

It seemed like hours to the speedster as the footsteps drew closer and finally stopped in front of the door. He heard the lock click and the door swing open on rusted hinges; there was a moment of silence, but a sudden cackle nearly made him jump out of his skin and for the first time since he had gotten his powers he found himself wishing that time had gone slower.

"For crying out loud, Speedy's not up yet? I thought they were supposed to be quick healers." Wally's mind raced as he struggled to keep his cool and not give himself away while the man before him laughed insanely, "I didn't hurt him that bad."

He heard the man that he still couldn't bring himself to name turn as someone in the hall spoke, he couldn't make out what was being said, but in the end it really didn't matter. He walked over to Wally and poked at him making his skin crawl, when that got no response the man reached up and shook the chains holding him up.

Wally felt the cuffs dig into his wrists and it took all the self control that he could muster to keep from crying out.

"Yeah, well whatever his name is. Sheesh heroes really have no naming sense do they?" more laughter and Wally fought the urge to grit his teeth, "Well it doesn't matter if he ever wakes up. His little birdie buddy is probably already on his way, once we have him we'll toss this one into the river or something."

The man punched him in the side and Wally couldn't prevent the huff of air that escaped him, but he managed to bite back the groan that was rising in the back of his throat.

His captor laughed hysterically, joined by several other voices in the hall, "Hey boys. I just thought of something even better! I hear the Flash is really overprotective of his super sidekick. Maybe we should send him back via FedEx!"

More voices joined in on the laughter and Wally could feel his panic rising, he heard the man turning and walking back out the door as he spoke, "What do you think the Super-slob would like more? The brat's head or his feet?"

The door slammed shut and the lock clicked back in place as the laughter receded down the hallway once more. He waited for several minutes in silence before he finally allowed himself to open his eyes and look up, Wally took a few shaky breaths trying to calm his heart that was literally vibrating in his chest.

His panic threatened to overwhelm him until the Joker's words rang in his mind once more, _His little birdie buddy is probably already on his way, once we have him we'll toss this one into the river or something._

"Rob…." the thought of his friend and teammate walking into a trap to rescue him, and he knew that Dick would come to rescue him, snapped him out of his panic and he felt his training kicking in once more.

Kid Flash frowned, "There's no way in hell I'm letting you get your hands on Rob."

He glanced around the room, there was no furniture, no windows and only the one door. He looked up at the restraints and was surprised to note that they were not actually built into the wall, it was obvious that the heavy bolts holding his shackles in place had been added later.

_So I'm not actually in a cell or something. _

Wally glanced around at the aged plaster on the walls and the layer of dust on the floor _This looks like an abandoned building, but these bolts look new, that means they must have added it specifically for me._

He took several deep breaths, _Okay, I need to get moving before they get back. First thing's first._

He shut his eyes and began to vibrate, his head spun and almost forced him to stop, but he pushed himself to vibrate faster. Wally grit his teeth as his body protested, but the effort turned out to be worth the pain when he felt himself slip through his bindings, hearing the metal burst and cascade to the floor in shards.

Kid Flash fell to the floor on his hands and knees panting heavily while the scraps of metal fell around him, after a long moment he forced himself to stand, one hand pressed against the wall for support while the other instinctively clamped down on the spot just below his ribs where the Joker had stabbed him. "Ugh…..freaking bastard."

Once he was on his feet he reached up to press the call button on the communicator in his ear, but was surprised to find it missing, "Crap. There goes that idea."

He took a few careful steps around the remains of his shackles, ignoring the twinges of pain that shot through his side with each step and the growling of his stomach. He reached out to tap lightly on the walls, but there was no way for him to tell how thick they were, so he quickly ruled them out as an escape route.

Wally slowly approached the door, _If I can get through this I can get out… but I don't want to make it explode…._

His stomach growled again and he gave into his body's complaints, popping open the compartment on his arm and pulling out the protein bar that had thankfully remained hidden.

Wally tore open the package and munched thoughtfully as he tried to decide what to do, _I don't feel up to a fight, so I don't want to make it obvious that I've escaped….. vibrating my whole body through the door is gonna make it explode and that'll be loud, not to mention it'll hurt like hell._

He finished off the bar, feeling slightly better now that he had something in his system and turned his gaze to the door knob, "It's locked, but if I can just make that break then I could get out, and that might not make much noise…."

Dick's face flashed into his mind and he decided it was worth the risk, he carelessly tossed the wrapper he was holding to the floor and pressed the fingertips of his left hand to the door, just above the handle.

_Here goes nothing…_

He watched as his fingers blurred and disappeared into the door, after an instant he felt something shift and he yanked his hand back as the lock shattered and fell to the concrete with the tinkling of metal.

Wally froze, waiting to see if anyone had heard, but after several heart pounding minutes the hall was still silent and he let out the breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"Well that was nerve-racking…"

The speedster cautiously pushed the door open and poked his head out into the hallway, he held back a sigh when he saw that the hallway was clear. Kid Flash took a moment to calm his nerves and gather his courage before stepping out of the room and slipping silently down the hallway.

AN: Just as another quick note: I know that some of us Wally West fans have issues with the way he's been portrayed in YJ. Honestly I think he's really cute, typical boy, but cute, as long as the girls aren't around. I'm all for having girls in the series, I am one after all, but for some reason the girls seem to throw off the dynamic of the team and the show overall and Wally turns into an arrogant doofus while they're around so I find them irritating.

I don't have a problem with him being into the girls, in the comics he was a serious player before he met Linda, although the Wally we know and love had serious game, but then again he was older than this Wally so whatever. The point is, I'm purposely writing him a little out of character, but I really like the YJ setting and I love the bromance between Robin and KF.

I want him to be similar to YJ Wally because there are parts of him I really like, but I wanted to make him more like what we would want to see as Wally fans. To that end: Escape! I refuse to allow my cute lil' red head be a damsel in distress. Whew sorry for the long note, and thanks if you actually read all of this. So Wally West fans: Any thoughts?


	3. Beware Angry Speedsters

Robin couldn't help but stare as Flash slammed a thug against the side of the alley and pressed his forearm against the man's windpipe. Over an hour had passed since they had found out that Wally was being held by the Joker and they had immediately hit the streets of Gotham searching for clues as to the madman's current hideout.

Dick had seen the elder speedster fight before, but the man was generally calm in battle, much like Wally, preferring to distract the baddies with jokes and take down the enemy with as little violence as possible.

He had a reputation for being courteous and amiable, which didn't exactly strike fear into the hearts of street gangs. Especially Gotham street gangs that were accustomed to dealing with Batman and Robin, both of whom had a much more frightening reputation.

However, the Scarlet Speedster was angry, alarmingly angry and, for the first time, Robin was aware of just how dangerous the man could be. Batman had pointed the group out to Barry as a possible source of information and the next minute all but one of them was unconscious and bloody, strewn about the alley.

The Flash already had their leader pinned to the wall by the time he and Batman had stepped out of the Batmobile. Robin looked up at Bruce who was watching silently, and he followed his mentor as he moved closer, wanting to hear what the criminal was saying.

"Where's Joker?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Barry repeated the question, grinding out the words as he leaned into the man's neck, "Don't make me keep asking you. Where is he?"

The man gave a weak laugh, trying to appear brave, "You aren't like the Bat Flash. You can't scare me that easy."

The speedster growled low in his throat and pressed down hard on the man's neck, cutting off his air supply entirely, "I do not have the patience for your crap. You will tell me what I want to know or I swear to you I will make you _wish_ it was Batman that caught you."

The punk jerked his head desperately, his hands grasping uselessly at the speedster's shoulders, but Flash waited another long moment before easing up on the man's neck, easily keeping him pinned to the wall, "Spit it out before I change my mind."

His captive's eyes flickered fearfully from the speedster's face to Robin, then Batman who stood against the opposite wall, his arms crossed, apparently unconcerned by what was happening across from him.

"Okay, okay, I saw some of his guys hanging around the old brewery that shut down six months ago." his voice was raspy and he was gasping for air, "I didn't see the man himself, but he should be somewhere around there."

Barry turned his head so he could glance at Batman out of the corner of his eye, "Do you know the place he's talking about?"

The Dark Knight nodded, "I do."

Flash turned back to the thug in his grasp, the man flinched away from the speedster's gaze, but Barry said nothing as he punched him in the gut. A harsh grunt left the man and he went limp, then Flash stepped back, letting the man slump to the ground in a heap.

"What the hell is it with this city and abandoned buildings? It's like the city runs a free hideout service for these people." Dick could see that the Scarlet Speedster was vibrating where he stood and he almost flinched when the man turned to face them once more, his eyes narrowed, "Lets move, lead the way Bats."

Batman nodded, "It's not far."

Dick watched in awe as Barry followed his mentor back toward the Batmobile, and he was suddenly reminded of a something Bruce had told him not long after he had become friends with Wally.

_I like him Bruce, Wally's a fun guy. Seems like kind of a pushover though_.

_It's a mistake to underestimate him Dick. Neither of them should be taken lightly._

Dick could remember asking his mentor what he had meant; Batman hadn't been willing to elaborate. He hadn't really understood those words until this moment; he saw Batman pause for an instant, the subtle change catching his attention, and he ran to catch up. The Boy Wonder vaulted into the Batmobile and the vehicle tore out of the alley, with the Scarlet Speedster right beside it.

Robin found himself watching the man as he ran, though his thoughts had turned to his best friend; looking back he couldn't think of a time when he had seen Wally truly angry.

Granted, the Fastest Boy Alive had a quick temper, but the teen was quick about everything. Quick to anger, even quicker to forgive.

Even his fights with Artemis had begun to take on a more playful tone, at least on Wally's end, after the first week or so and he couldn't help but wonder just what the other boy was capable of when pushed beyond the limits of his patience.

His train of thought was broken by Batman speaking to him, "I warned you to never underestimate a speedster. They are more dangerous than most people realize."

Robin turned his eyes on his mentor, "I always knew that they were tough, but," he paused searching for the right words, "they're just so laid back, so friendly, I guess I didn't realize how strong they could be."

The corner of Bruce's mouth twitched upward and he could tell the man was amused, "You misunderstood Robin. They act that way precisely because they are powerful." he glanced over at his ward, "Imagine a being that dangerous with a bad attitude to match_."_

Robin grimaced, "I see what you mean."

"You should also remember that the two of them protect their cities on a day to day basis, with little to no interference from the league. They are very capable guardians, in spite of their friendly demeanor they are not to be trifled with."

Dick was silent as he contemplated Batman's words, he was so lost in thought that he didn't notice that they had reached their destination until he felt the Batmobile roll to a stop.

He practically leapt out of the car as a sudden longing to see Wally's face gripped him, he ran around the car to the place where Batman was standing beside Flash, needing to hear his friend's voice, to know that he was alright.

Dick was so preoccupied by his unaccustomed desperation that he almost missed what the men were saying.

"I can just run in and grab him. It's been too long Batman, he's hurt and he needs to eat. We can't wait."

Bruce had a firm hold on his friend's arm, "I understand, but you'd be putting him in more danger. Joker will be expecting someone to try and rescue the boy, it's what he wants. There are likely traps all over the building and just rushing in could get him killed."

Dick saw Bruce's grip tighten as the speedster began to vibrate, "He needs me Bats! I promised him that I'd look out for him!"

Batman sighed, "I know The Joker. Trust me Flash, I want to save Kid Flash too, but rushing in will only put him at risk. Please," he locked eyes with the other hero, "let us take the lead on this one."

For a moment Robin thought the speedster was going to argue and he found himself moving closer and putting a hand on the man's wrist, "We'll get him back."

Barry blinked down at him and he tried to smile, "Batman is right, we need to be careful, but I promise we'll get him back."

He stared up into the man's eyes and for a moment he wondered if he'd overstepped his boundaries, but Flash's face seemed to soften and he put his hand on his shoulder, "You're right Robin, I'm sorry. I know you're worried too." he returned the weak smile, "I'm counting on you two."

Dick nodded, then pulled his hand back and turned to face Batman, "The roof?"

Bruce nodded, "We need to get an idea of the layout."

"Right," he pulled out his grappling hook and took aim, Batman did the same and in spite of the situation he had to bite back a laugh when Barry grabbed onto his mentor's utility belt, catching a ride to the roof in much the same way that Wally often did with him.

The thought made him miss his friend even more, but he pushed the feeling aside and pressed the retract button.

Once they were on the roof they scattered, checking all sides of the building for potential enemies and looking into skylights trying to get a handle on the situation inside the building.

Robin turned when he heard Batman call to Flash, and they both rushed to the Dark Knight's side, "Did you find something?"

Batman motioned for them to look down, "Joker is here. That means that Kid Flash is probably here somewhere as well. I doubt he would leave such a valuable hostage in the hands of his henchmen."

Barry was leaning over the skylight, one hand on Bruce's shoulder to steady himself, "I don't see Kid anywhere."

Dick nodded, "Probably has him locked up somewhere."

Flash straightened up as Batman stood, "We have to get in there."

Bruce nodded, "We can go in through the roof access door, most of them seem to be clustered toward the front of the factory with only a few scattered patrols. They aren't organized we should be able to infiltrate with minimal resistance."

Robin dashed over to the roof access crouching down to pick the lock, "Let's do this." he paused, then leaned down on the roof, scanning along the bottom of the door, then working his way up the side of the door jam.

He turned back to Batman with a frown, "I think this has a gas bomb attached to it."

Batman moved to join his protégé and Robin pointed to a place on the door jam, only a foot above the bottom of the door, "See, that's a pressure plate. I don't see any sort of detonator, but that's attached to something."

"Can you disarm it?"

Dick grinned, "Of course."

Flash watched with interest as the young hero disarmed the trap in less than a minute, then pushed open the door and beamed at his mentor, "How was my time?"

Batman's lips twitched upward, "46 seconds, well done."

Robin smiled, "Cool, let's get going."

He turned to enter the building, but Batman stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, "I'll go first."

Dick nodded, knowing that his adoptive parent was trying to protect him, Batman nodded to the boy, then turned to their companion, "Take up the read Flash, try not to touch anything."

Barry nodded and Batman strode into the hideout, with Robin at his heels. Barry followed, his mouth set in a hard line and not bothering to close the door behind them,.

AN: I really~~ wanted to write a scene of Barry being viciously protective of Wally ^_^ I loved the idea, because I was reading this old Brave and the Bold comic where Hal Jordan (GL) comes to visit Barry and gets to meet Wally for the first time. Long story short, KF gets his speed stolen by a baddie, but he still wants to help. So Hal gives him a copy of his ring, basically, he makes a GL uniform and a ring out of power from his ring and lets KF borrow off him. They have several skirmishes with the bad guys and halfway through the story Barry gets after Hal for not being careful enough with Wally. He basically tells Hal he's a loser, and actually threatens to beat up GL if there is so much as a "single scratch" on the Kid. (Soooo cute!) Anyway, because of their fight, they get captured, but KF manages to get his speed back on his own AND rescue GL and his Uncle (yeah, Go Wally!) It was a good story, and it made me love Barry being protective.


	4. In distress, but not a damsel

AN: Sorry for the wait everyone, I actually wanted to post this chapter a few weeks ago, but I kept feeling like something was missing and I'm having a lot of fun with this fic so I wanted to make sure it was just right before I posted it. I hope it was worth the wait.

Kid Flash wasn't sure how long he had been wandering the bare and aging halls of the building. It felt as though it had been hours, but his mind was racing making it difficult for him to guess how much time had passed and even then he couldn't be sure if that was natural time or his own relative time.

He turned a corner and Wally almost cheered when he finally spotted a set of stairs leading to a door.

_Finally! Please don't be locked._

The speedster glanced around warily before setting his foot on the bottom most step. He took one step, then another, grunting at the pain in his side and grabbing a hold of the railing, using it to haul himself up the steps, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.

When he finally reached the top he leaned heavily on the railing, hugging himself tightly, trying to use the pressure to ease the throbbing of his wounds, his breath coming in shaky gasps.

After several long moments the red head pushed himself up and reached for the doorknob, it turned easily in his hand and he was able to push the door open half an inch, "Sweet, looks like my luck hasn't run out yet. I love it when baddies are stupid."

Wally peered out, slowly opening the door further as he confirmed that no one was going to stand in his way.

He shifted his suit into stealth mode, taking a bit of childish pleasure in watching the bright colors fade to black then he slipped out the door, shutting it carefully behind him.

The speedster hid between the wall and a stack of decaying crates, some of the boxes on the bottom had given out and the entire stack had tumbled down in a haphazard pile, but it was sheltered and offered him a decent view of most of the room.

He glanced around, hoping to find something that could help him get his bearings, when he looked up he could see dirty skylights and several metal walkways spanned the room.

He dismissed the upper levels immediately, in his current condition his goal was escape so there was no point in trying to find a way up. The red head lowered his gaze and looked around, the building was dimly lit and it was filled with heavy machinery in varying degrees of disrepair.

Wally rolled his eyes, wondering how a group of villains could be so deadly and so predictable at the same time. Sure Central's rouges were goofy at times, but at least they were creative.

Of course they were still bad news, but at least they weren't psychotic; he had a theory that the brutality that was common among Gotham's villains made up for their tendency to all chose similar hideouts.

Kid Flash bit back a sigh, _Never thought I'd miss Boomer and Captain Cold. At least I know how to handle those guys._

The almost cliché nature of his captor's hideout, coupled with the dank, smoggy air he was breathing, confirmed his suspicions that Joker had taken him to Gotham.

The thought brought a spark of hope, then of fear.

Since he was in Gotham it almost a guarantee that Batman or Robin would find out that he was being held by Joker and he knew that they wouldn't hesitate to come to his rescue.

On the other hand that was exactly what the madman wanted. He was merely the bait to lure Robin into whatever twisted game he had planned.

The speedster sighed, _I wonder if anyone's on their way yet. I'm sure someone's noticed by now. _

His stomach growled and he frowned, _I'm sure Uncle Barry is looking for me since I missed lunch. Crap, I was really looking forward to Chinese…._

Kid Flash sighed and quickly scanned the room once more before leaving the relative safety of his hiding place. He moved quietly, staying close to the wall as he made his way toward the large double doors that he could just make out at the other end of the room.

Wally hissed as his bare foot came down on a discarded nail, "Damn it, I'm so sick of this place." He looked around warily, "It's a freaking maze in here, who designs buildings like this?"

There was shuffling behind him and he froze, he turned around slowly, his eyes growing wide when he saw a figure moving toward him.

He threw himself down behind a rack filled with empty bottles as a man wearing a clown mask appeared around one of the empty vats, he held his breath not wanting to risk giving himself away.

The man passed without so much as pausing and Wally felt relief wash over him, _So far so good._

He fought back a groan as he forced himself to his feet and crept out from his hiding place, being careful to stick to the shadows and suddenly very grateful to Batman for adding a stealth mode to his suit.

Wally moved as quickly as he could, but he stumbled and nearly tripped when he heard shouting erupt from the way he had come.

_Shit, shit, shit!_

He ducked behind a machine whose function he couldn't discern as another hideous clown ran by, "The kid escaped! Everyone spread out, find him now! Don't let him out of the building!"

_Spoke too soon._

Wally's heart thudded in his chest as more and more clowns flooded the room, spreading out to check behind and underneath the machines that cluttered the area. They got closer with each passing second and he quickly realized he had no choice but to make a break for it. He took a few deep breaths trying to gather the strength he needed to escape.

The red head stood, intending to skirt around the clowns so he could come around behind them to hide in the places they had already searched, hoping he could slip out while they were distracted.

He moved from one shadow to the next as quietly as he was able, grimacing as the sound of his feet against concrete seemed too loud in his ears and wishing he had Robin's ninja skills.

The speedster debated finding a place to lay low until things started to die down, but he almost immediately rejected the idea knowing that if he stopped moving his body would seize up and he might not be able to get back up again.

"Check this way!"

The shout had his head whipping around, fearful that he was going to be discovered, but there was no one behind him so he turned back, intending to quicken his pace. He got half way around when he ran into something solid, his eyes scrunched up and he stumbled back. Strong hands clamped down painfully on his arms, heedless of the injuries there, catching him and pulling him forward once more.

There was laughter and his eyes snapped open, Wally felt his blood go cold and he bit back a yelp when he realized he was face to face with the Joker. The pasty white face was mere inches from his own and the man was smiling cruelly at him.

Of course it was sort of hard to tell, Joker was always smiling.

_Creepy Bastard._

He couldn't keep himself from shuddering as the man spoke, "Well, well lookie what I found."

Wally wanted to say something, anything, he wanted to scream at the man to get his hands off of him, but when he opened his mouth no sound came out. Joker laughed again, "What are you doing out of bed Speedy?"

Wally's eye twitched and he frowned, momentarily forgetting his anxiety, "Kid Flash."

Joker raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer, "What was that young man?"

Wally grit his teeth and took a deep breath, forcing himself to look the man in the eyes, "I said it's Kid Flash you carnival reject." he leaned back as much as he could and jerked his head forward, slamming his forehead against the Joker's.

The criminal grunted in pain, releasing his hold on the speedster and grabbing his head; Wally's head spun, but he took the opportunity to turn, trying to dash back the way he had come and ran straight into the arms of two of Joker's henchmen.

He tried to struggle, but his stunt with the Joker had taken a toll on him, so when a third man came up behind him and pulled him into a headlock he knew he had lost his chance.

Joker's moans of pain had faded into disturbing giggles that sent a chill down Wally's spine, "You're a bad little boy. It's already past your bed time." he wagged a finger as he pretended to scold his captive.

He moved closer, and Wally leaned back into the men holding him, wanting to keep as much space as possible between himself and the man who was staring at him with eyes full of evil intent, "I don't think Flash would be happy to hear that his sidekick was breaking the rules."

Kid Flash's heart was in his throat, but he grit his teeth and glared defiantly at the criminal, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing how frightened he was.

Joker was smiling one moment, and the next his fist shot forward connecting with Wally's ribs. Stars burst in his vision and his ears rang as he doubled over, only half aware that the men holding his arms were the only reason he hadn't ended up on the floor.

He took deep breaths, fighting against the throbbing pain in his gut and the blackness creeping in on the edges of his vision. It wasn't until the Joker's insane laughter reached his hears that he realized that he was being dragged away.

The man who had been holding his neck had released him and he could hear Joker saying something.

Wally willed himself to focus, "Put him back to bed boys, and make sure to read him a bedtime story." his voice fell dangerously, "Let's put him to bed for good this time, we don't want him sneaking out and ruining Robbie's surprise party."

The criminal broke out into hysterics and the men holding him were laughing as they dragged him between them. Wally's mind reeled and he felt panic creeping up on him once more.

_They're going to kill me. They're going to kill me! And Rob's going to walk right into their trap for nothing!_

He forced his head up and looked around, his mind racing as he looked for anything that cold help him escape. Wally glanced around as best he could, as far as he could tell the gang members were heading back to whatever they had been doing before he had escaped and he had been left with only two guards.

The red head took a deep breath, praying he was strong enough to attempt one more escape. Once he was sure the three of them were out of sight of the other criminals he pulled his feet up and flipped them forward; his foot connected with one man's knee, sending him tumbling to the floor and he pushed himself to vibrate, enabling him to yank his arms free.

The men fell to the floor with a shout, clutching their hands and Wally took off as fast as he could manage, heading for the other side of the building.

Hearing more shouting and footsteps heading his way he broke into a brisk jog, ignoring the pain in his feet and side. As he pushed himself to pick up the pace, he caught a glimpse of red and yellow out of the corner of his eye.

He stopped in his tracks, and rubbed at his eyes wondering if he had been imagining things, then he looked up, careful to watch the space between the machines. His vision was blurry and he rubbed at his eyes again, squinting as he scanned the area; Wally felt a grin spread across his face when he saw it again.

_It can't be! Oh man I really hope that's who I think it is. _he changed direction, intending to follow his would be hero, his hope giving him the boost he needed to break into a run, _Please be who I think you are!_

Wally turned a corner and found himself in a large room filled with brewing vats, but he didn't take the time to examine his surroundings. He immediately caught sight of his uncle's familiar form and he was so happy that for an instant he forgot all his pain and anxiety, "Uncle Barry."

The older speedster's back was to him and he was walking away. Wally grit his teeth and shot forward, not wanting to lose track of the hero and half afraid that he was imagining the other man's presence.

Barry was following Batman and Robin as they moved silently through the building, he was trying his best to stay focused, but the horrible scene that they had found at the warehouse kept popping up in his mind sending tremors of fear down his spine.

His speed was working against him, no matter how much he fought it his hyper-speed thoughts had already produced hundreds of scenarios and none of them had ended well for Wally.

In his head Flash knew that he there was nothing he could have done to prevent this, no way he could have known, but he kept thinking of Wally, cold, hungry and hurt and he felt his chest tighten almost painfully.

The speedster clenched his fists, he was angry at the Joker for daring to lay a hand on Wally, angry at Batman for not allowing him to simply tear the place apart, but he was angrier at himself for allowing something like this to happen.

His nephew was a capable hero, Barry had faith in him, but he had promised the boy, and himself that he would always keep him safe. Barry new that Wally wouldn't blame him for any of this, in the red head's eyes his uncle could do no wrong.

Barry sighed, even after all this time he was still stunned by the teenager's fierce devotion to him, he was, as Wally frequently reminded him, the younger speedster's favorite hero.

The Flash was flattered and he loved that his nephew felt he was someone worth looking up to, but there were times when he couldn't help but wonder if he deserved Wally's steadfast admiration.

This was one of those times.

He glanced at Robin, the boy was tense and his head kept snapping from one direction to another, he thought he heard the young hero's neck pop and he winced. The dark haired boy was obviously distressed, and Barry wasn't sure if he was even aware of his own jerky movements.

Even Batman seemed more on edge than usual as he led them through the building, every now and then he would stop to disable a trap or warn them of a trip wire, but the Dark Knight hadn't turned to face them since they had entered the factory.

Bruce had insisted that they check the perimeter of the building first, disarming the traps that likely ringed the area where the gang was staying in order to secure an escape route should the need for one arise.

_Got to hand it to him, Bats likes to think ten moves ahead. _

The Flash looked around, once again debating whether or not he could risk setting off a trap if he took off to find Wally himself. Batman paused, and he stopped, watching the other hero as he knelt to deal with what he assumed was another trap.

Barry tapped his foot impatiently, barely able to contain his nervous energy.

He gasped as he felt someone grab him from behind; the Dynamic Duo whipped around at the sound and at the same time Flash turned, his fist raised to strike.

His hand froze and he had to stop himself from crying out with joy when he saw the familiar mop of red hair that was currently pressed against his side.

"Kid!" he barely managed to choke out the name past the lump in his throat as he wrapped his nephew in strong arms and pulled the teen against his chest, "Thank God! I thought I'd lost you!"

Kid Flash shifted, looking up at his favorite hero with glossy eyes, "They-they're right behind me…"

He didn't need to finish since they could all hear the angry voices that were approaching, "Damn that brat! Joker will kill us if we lose him again."

"He won't get far, and he won't escape again! I'm gonna remove his legs when we find him, then we'll feed him to the hyenas!"

The pair of burly clowns suddenly appeared as they came around one of the many vats in the room, but they never laid eyes on their target. Batman and Robin leapt at the goons, earning their reputation as the Dynamic Duo as they knocked both of the men unconscious with identical kicks and perfect timing.

The younger of the two turned back to the speedsters, leaving his mentor to restrain the men.

Robin felt hot tears stinging behind his eyes, but he forced them back as he dashed over to the pair, Batman followed more slowly, watching for signs of anyone else pursuing the younger speedster.

Dick skidded to a halt beside the Flashes, "KF! Are you okay?"

The Boy Wonder's question brought Barry back to reality and he was suddenly aware that Wally was trembling.

He pulled away, holding his nephew at arm's length intending to look him over, but as soon as he was no longer supporting the teen his knees buckled beneath him and he sagged.

Barry tightened his grip on Wally's shoulders; at the same time Dick rushed forward grabbing his friend around his waist and lowering him gently to the ground.

Wally grunted in pain and clutched at his side and Dick yanked his hand back, immediately realizing what he had done, "Shit, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Flash frowned as he looked at his partner, he was covered in blood and he could see the wounds still hadn't closed, the teen was trembling with exhaustion and there was a gash just above his right temple surrounded by dried blood that had caked into his hair and run down his face to stain his cheek.

Wally turned to his friend, his face was twisted into a grimace, but he still managed a small smile, "I thought you didn't swear in front of Batman."

Dick tried to speak, but the sound that came out was something halfway between a laugh and a sob, so he settled for winding his arms around the other teen's bicep and burying his face in his shoulder, ignoring the half dried blood.

After a moment he felt a shaking hand rest on his head and he looked up to see Wally smiling at him, "I'm okay Rob, sorry I scared you bro."

"KF…."

He felt the speedster trying to get to his feet so he tightened his hold on his friend's arm and stood slowly in an attempt to steady him. He was surprised when Wally turned and placed his hands on his shoulders, "I was coming to look for you Rob. You have to get out of here. This is a trap, I'm just the bait. It's the Joker, I-."

Dick wanted to reply, but they were cut off by a burst of insane laughter echoing throughout the room and Kid Flash's fingers dug painfully into his shoulders.

"Crap, too late."

Robin moved closer to his teammate, putting an arm around his shoulders to steady him as the Joker appeared before them, blocking they way they had come, he was vaguely aware of the other clowns moving in to surround them, but he kept his focus on the green haired lunatic.

The criminal snickered, "Oh now that's a Kodak moment! Flash brat reunited with Boy Blunder," Robin carefully pushed Kid back against the vat, putting himself between their enemy and his wounded friend, "How sweet, I think I'm getting a cavity! Though I must admit…."

He frowned as he looked past the young heroes and his heated gaze landed on the adults beyond them, "I half expected DaddyBats to show up, but I am sort of surprised to see Red."

He cackled, the sound echoing and ringing in Robin's ears causing him to grit his teeth, "I'm a little disappointed in you Robbie, your playmate is in trouble so you go and tattle on me? Really now, I thought you were a big boy."

Dick clenched his fists, fighting back his urge to retort, still aware that getting his friend out of the building had to be his top priority.

Joker stopped laughing and his face took on a deadly sort of calm, "Alright boys, it's time to put down the wounded puppy, it's for the best really, we shouldn't let him suffer anymore, but leave the little birdie for me."

Robin's eyes widened in horror as the grotesque clowns rushed forward, pulling at him, trying to get to Wally. He heard the speedster grunt as he was pushed back, pressing the older boy against the machinery, Robin lashed out viciously with one hand, reaching for his staff with the other.

Dick cursed colorfully as he was yanked forward away from his friend; he heard Wally cry out and he whipped around to see that one of the henchmen had the red head by the arm while another had the speedster by his waist, trying to drag him away.

Robin let out a guttural shout and lashed out with his staff, smiling cruelly when he heard the satisfying crunch of the first thug's arm breaking. He dropped into a crouch, bringing the staff around in an arc that connected with the other clown's knees, when the man fell back the young hero sprang up and kicked him in the temple.

He rushed forward to catch the speedster, Dick grabbed the older teen's arm, pulling him against his chest to keep his head from hitting the concrete. Robin winced as the larger boy landed half on him, but he recovered quickly, sitting up and pushing Kid Flash up with him.

"KF? You still with me?"

The older hero's eyes fluttered open, for a moment I Dick felt like Wally wasn't really seeing him, but the red head scrunched his eyes shut, when he opened them again his eyes were more focused, "Rob…yeah, sorry."

"Don't worry about it man. I'm going to get you out of here okay?"

Wally gave him a tired smile, "I know."

Robin pulled Kid Flash to his feet, so he could lean against a vat then turned to face the other attackers. He grinned when he saw both Barry and Bruce pushing their way through the gang forcing Joker's men to back away from them.

The adult heroes weren't holding back as they tore through the gang, leaving a trail of unconscious and bloody clowns, their masks still grinning eerily at nothing.

Barry punched a clown in the face, sending the man sprawling, at the same time fighting to get his arm away from yet another clown that was trying to keep him still, "Robin get him out of here now!"

Wally pushed away from the machine, trying to protest, "Flash-"

He was cut off as Batman turned, flipping two of the clowns over his head and slamming them into the concrete floor, "Go!"

Robin nodded and pulled the older boy's arm across his shoulders, his other arm reaching around his back, remembering to be careful of his wounds, "Let's go KF, they can handle things here."

"But Rob-"

"No arguments! They'll be fine!"

Dick pulled Wally away from the fight, the red head stumbled and he stood a little straighter, trying to take on as much of the older boy's weight as possible. He heard a shout and looked around to see several of the gang members had broken off from the group to pursue them and he cursed.

His worry was short lived however, when a streak of red intercepted their pursuers sending them crashing into walls and machinery. Dick let out the breath he'd been holding and turned his attention forward, trying to make it to the door at the other end of the room.

Wally was gasping at his side, letting himself rest heavily against the younger hero and Dick silently thanked his years as an acrobat that had given him the strength to practically carry the larger boy.

They reached the door and Robin kicked it open with his foot, leading his friend through it and letting the door clang shut behind them, muffling the sounds of battle.


	5. Don't say it

AN: So I just noticed that each chapter is just a little longer than the last: hopefully that's a good thing! By the way I went back and added to/edited all the previous chapters, making some things a bit clearer and embellishing a bit. Let me know how you like the changes!

Dick grimaced as the sound of the heavy metal door clanging shut behind them echoed through the decrepit building.

The young hero scanned the room for any obvious threats, painfully aware of his friend's harsh breathing just above his ear. His eyes lingered on the machinery in the room, the sun had set hours ago leaving them in darkness broken only by a few weak street lamps that were hardly visible though the dirty windows.

The room was full of nooks and crannies that were practically invisible in the dim lighting, that made for plenty of places to hide, but also plenty of places for enemies to be lying in wait.

He clicked his teeth together in frustration and adjusted his grip on the taller teen; Wally grunted and the hand over his shoulder involuntarily grabbed a fistful of his cape. Robin's eyes flicked up to check on his companion, but the other teen was staring off into the shadows.

Dick sighed, reaching up to switch his mask to infrared and glanced over the room again, checking for any signs of traps or enemies; after several minutes he was satisfied that the room was safe enough he turned and glanced up at the red head.

Robin switched off the night vision and took a close look at his best friend, a frown working its way onto his face. Even in the dark he could see that the other hero was pale, his fiery red hair contrasting sharply against his forehead.

Wally's eyes were closed and the older boy had let his head droop onto the arm that was across Robin's shoulders, trying to rest while he could.

For a moment his heart warmed at the thought that, in spite of the danger they were in, and his weakened condition, Wally felt he was safe enough in his hands to let his guard down.

Kid Flash grimaced and the fist on Robin's shoulder tightened for an instant and the feeling was shoved to the back of his mind by a surge of guilt.

Robin took a slow breath, trying to force back his emotions like Batman had taught him so he could focus on the situation at hand.

"KF?"

Wally's eyes scrunched tightly for a moment before they opened, he was obviously exhausted, but Dick was relieved to see that his eyes were still as bright and clear as ever.

Kid Flash locked eyes with him and offered him a tired smile, "Man, I can't tell you how glad I am to see you buddy."

Robin searched the red head's face, he wasn't sure what he was looking for, but the emerald eyes were filled with happiness, relief, and trust.

_Trust in me._

Dick forced a smile that he didn't really feel onto his face; he knew it was a second later than it should have been, but the speedster didn't seem to notice, "Same here KF. Glad to see you're in once piece."

Wally chuckled lightly, but the sound was hollow and Robin winced, "Yeah, pretty lucky. If you guys took any longer I would be missing my head….or my feet, maybe both."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Robin snapped, disturbed by the speedster's uncharacteristically morbid attempt at humor.

Wally laughed again, this time with a bit of genuine amusement, "Ah, nothin' just a bad joke."

Dick shot him a confused look, but the red head only smiled, "So what now Boy Wonder?"

Robin sighed, deciding to let the comment slide for the moment, "Let's find a place to hole up for a couple minutes so I can check you out."

"Gee Rob I didn't know you felt that way about me, not that I blame you."

"Don't flatter yourself Kid Mouth," Dick replied with a laugh, "besides, you're not really my type"

"Really?" Wally shot his friend a mischievous grin and winked at the younger boy, "You sure? I thought you had a thing for feisty red heads."

Dick couldn't help but smile as they started forward once more; he had been on the verge of panic when he learned that The Joker had gotten his hands on the speedster, and when the clown had ordered his men to kill Wally his blood had boiled with rage, but now that his teammate was by his side he felt himself beginning to calm down.

He knew that the situation was still deathly serious, but having the weight of the other hero on his shoulders and his intense body heat pressed against his side was comforting.

Robin was still worried about the severity of Kid Flash's injuries, yet almost without trying Wally had managed to soothe most of his fears with his upbeat personality and the playful remarks that rolled so easily off his tongue.

They whispered back and forth, bantering playfully as they crossed the room, with every step Dick felt some of the tension and anxiety beginning to drain away, though guilt was still lurking in the back of his mind.

Finally they reached a door on the left side of the room; Robin reached up to wipe the grime from the window in the door, wrinkling his nose at the dust and grease that stuck to his glove.

He sighed, and looked into the room, "This looks like an old office or something. We can lay low here for a bit so I can take a look at your wounds."

Wally nodded slowly, "Whatever you say bro."

Robin bit the inside of his cheek, unaccustomed to a compliant Kid Flash, but he willed the thought away and reached out to open the door.

It turned easily in his hand and he opened the door a crack, slipping his head in and peering cautiously around the room, "Looks clear."

He led the older sidekick into the room and gently maneuvered him so he was sitting on the floor, his back against the desk that took up most of the room.

Once Wally was settled Dick quickly searched the room, finding nothing threatening he turned and closed the door before heading back to his friend.

He frowned as he looked down at the red head, Wally's eyes were closed again, his head resting against the desk and he was breathing deeply, his arms curled around his middle and a slightly pained look on his face.

Dick crouched down between the speedster's knees, "How you holding up man?"

The red head cracked one eye open, "Oh, y'know. Been better."

Robin huffed, "Yeah, you look like shit KF."

Wally stuck his tongue out at the other teen, "Gee thanks Bird boy."

Dick smirked, "Anytime Twinkle-toes."

The younger hero plopped onto the floor with his legs tucked underneath him as he gently pulled Wally's arms away from his torso and peeled back the torn edges of the speedster's suit to get a better look at the large wound on his side.

Robin frowned, "This looks pretty deep."

Kid Flash bit back a groan as Robin gently tugged at the fabric that had become sticky with half dried blood, "Thanks for the brilliant deduction Boy Wonder."

Dick immediately withdrew his hands, ignoring the snarky remark as he moved on to the gashes that littered the other hero's legs, "This is wrong, these shouldn't look like this, you've barely begun to heal."

Wally shrugged weakly, "I'm not too surprised, I haven't eaten since late this morning, all my energy is probably going to keeping me on my feet."

"Here drink this, you're probably really dehydrated." Robin produced a bottle of water and held it out to the red head, Wally raised an eyebrow, but he was too tired to ask where the boy had managed to hide it.

"Thanks." Kid Flash gratefully accepted the bottle and downed it in one breath, "God I needed that."

He looked hopefully up at his friend, "I don't suppose you have some snacks hidden on you somewhere? I'm so hungry that I'm not even hungry anymore."

Robin frowned, his anxiety returning full force, _No wonder he's so pale…_

The Boy Wonder quickly dug in one of the pouches on his back and produced a candy bar, "Here, we always keep some sugar on us in case of emergencies, it's not a lot, but it's better than nothing."

"You're a lifesaver Rob!"

Wally's eyes widened in anticipation as Dick unwrapped the treat and handed it to him, without another word the speedster shoved the entire thing into his mouth.

In any other situation Robin would have laughed as his cheeks puffed up like a squirrel, but at the moment all he could think of was how much his friend had suffered and it made his heart ache.

He ran a hand through his hair, "Crap dude, I don't know how you're still conscious."

Kid Flash swallowed the chocolate and shrugged, "I dunno, but honestly I'm kinda drifting in and out," he licked his lips, "Maybe its just the adrenaline, Joker had me freaked man. That is one creepy ass dude…I've met some pretty bad guys and maybe I'm being a wimp, but …it's like he just does it because he can, he does this for fun, that's way worse than a baddie trying to rob a bank."

Dick offered him a reassuring smile and reached out to put a hand on the other teen's shoulder, "Tell me about it, Batman doesn't always bring me along when Joker's involved, the guy's totally nuts." his smile widened, "We don't need to worry though, with Flash and Batman here Joker will be back in prison in no time."

"You're right, that clown doesn't stand a chance against the two of them." Wally gave him a shaky thumbs up.

"Yeah, now sit still and let me finish looking you over." Robin reached out to pull the mask away from Wally's face when there was a creaking sound from above them.

The pair looked up just as the aged fire sprinklers popped off of their pipes and water began to pour into the room.

Wally glared up at the ceiling, blinking the muddy water from his eyes as he growled out some rather colorful words that Robin had never heard the speedster utter before.

Robin turned his gaze back to his friend, eyebrows raised, but he decided not to comment when the red head crossed his arms over his chest with a growl of annoyance.

Kid Flash glared up at the sprinklers, "Okay, I've had it with this! I'm sore, hungry, tired, and now I'm wet. I _officially_ want to go home now."

In spite of the situation Robin couldn't help but chuckle, "Dude, you've been kidnapped and had the crap kicked out of you, but _this _is what made it official?"

Wally nudged the shorter boy with his foot, "Figure of speech smart-mouth."

Dick laughed, still amazed by the Wally's ability to lighten the mood even in the worst of situations, "I guess we should get out of here then, wouldn't want you to melt or anything."

"Screw you Rob." Wally gave him a half hearted glare, "Dude…"

"….yeah?"

"Gotham sucks."

"Ha." Dick stood and offered his hands to the speedster, "I guess you Midwestern kids just aren't cut out for the big city man."

Wally reached up and grasped his hands, "What the heck are you talking about? Central is an industrial hub Sherlock!"

"Whatever, you're still a hick bro." Dick laughed as he tugged Wally to his feet and pulled his arm over his shoulder.

"Dude, how can you judge me? I help look after two cities Mini-Bats, count em' two, and need I remind you of _your_ background?"

Dick chuckled as he put an arm around the speedster's middle, "Touche."

They reached the door and Robin moved to open it, the dark haired teen frowned as he struggled to push the door open, "What the?"

"Stuck?"

Dick grunted, giving the door one more shove before taking a step back to consider the problem, "I don't think so, it's more like something's blocking it."

"Should we call for help?"

Robin frowned, "I really don't want to tell Batman I got us stuck in an office…." he lowered his eyes, trying to think, as he did he noticed that Kid Flash's legs were shaking with the effort of standing.

Dick sighed, knowing his friend's well being was more important than his pride, "Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice."

The Boy Wonder maneuvered his companion so he could lean against the wall and tapped a few keys on his wrist computer, "Robin to Batman."

His frown deepened when he was answered by static, "That's not good." he called up the holographic keyboard and tapped a few more keys.

Wally watched him for a moment then leaned his head back against the wall to glare at the ceiling, "There really should be a limit to how many things can go wrong in one day."

Dick answered without looking at him, "I'm not going to say the line."

"What line?"

Robin chuckled, "You know the one about things being worse."

Wally's hand shot out to clamp down on Dick's arm, "Don't even mention it! You know that's on the list of things a super hero should _never_ say."

"That's why I didn't, but you didn't know what I was talking about!"

The red head sighed and released him, "I don't even let the words cross my mind dude. It's just asking for trouble."

Robin put away his computer as looked down at the water that was now at Wally's knees and growled with annoyance, "This isn't working and obviously Joker was ready for us."

"What do you mean?"

Robin gestured at the rising water, "This, a room like this isn't water tight, this shouldn't be rising this quickly, and the fact that my communicator is being jammed means that he put a lot of thought into this, and that he was expecting more than just you and me."

"Y'know what?"

"Hmm?"

"I hate clowns too."

Dick snorted, "Me too man."

(For some reason I can't get the computer to let me brake this up...please ignore this I'll try to fix it.)

Barry growled low in his throat, easily dodging a clumsy punch that, from his point of view, seemed to be coming at him in slow motion.

As expected the thug overextended himself, so Flash grabbed his arm and spun him around a few times before hurling him into the crowd of clowns that were rushing at him from behind.

Flash nodded in satisfaction as the gang members were knocked over like bowling pins, "Don't kid yourselves guys, you'll ever lay a hand on me."

He turned, his eyes quickly scanning the room, searching through the throng for his friend; he immediately spotted a tight knot of clowns that were all yelling to each other, shouting for weapons.

Several of the men were knocked back, falling to the ground unconscious and he knew that Batman was in the thick of things.

A grim smile spread across his face, "Looks like he's got things under control." he lazily ducked as one of the gang members swung a pipe at his head, then he swept his leg up and back into the man's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him sprawling onto the floor.

Another man who had been coming up behind the first didn't have time to adjust as his companion hit the ground and he tripped over him, falling face first into the concrete and knocking himself unconscious.

Barry snorted, "Amateurs, I think Joker needs to work on his training program."

"Don't give him any ideas."

The speedster whipped around so fast at the sound of his teammate's voice that it almost appeared that he hadn't moved at all.

Though he had instantly recognized the voice, he had been a bit startled by The Dark Knight's sudden presence; he tried to play it off as though he had known the other man was there the whole time, but they both knew better.

"It's not like I'm going to write out a training plan for him Bats." he glanced around the room at the remaining gang members and sighed, "Let's get this over with, I want to get Kid home."

The Scarlet Speedster cracked his knuckles, "Just don't move for a second."

Batman cocked an eyebrow at the younger hero, he could tell that the speedster was intending to put an end to the battle, but he was also aware of how dangerous high speeds could be in such a crowded area with so many obstacles for him to crash into.

He sighed almost inaudibly as Flash shot forward, zipping around the room in a blur of red; the hero wove recklessly through the machinery and the clowns, allowing his concern for his nephew to overcome his normally cautious nature.

Batman turned away from the fighting, well aware that Barry didn't need his help, and went over the contents of his utility belt and taking a quick inventory of his remaining weapons.

As he finished a gust of wind caused his cape to flutter and he looked up to see all of the clowns unconscious and tied up. He turned his eyes to the other hero who was looking out at his handiwork, Flash's uniform was torn in a couple of places, but if there had been any injuries they couldn't have been serious because the exposed skin was unblemished.

Barry looked over at him, aware that the older hero had been scrutinizing him. Bruce lifted his gaze to lock eyes with the other man, "Where did you get the rope?"

The speedster chose not to comment on his companion's behavior, instead he took a deep breath and propped his hands up on his hips, "I saw it in the last room when we were disarming traps, I made a note of it in case it would be useful."

"I see. Where's Joker?"

Barry turned to him, and even beneath the mask Bruce could make out the horrified look on the other man's face, "I thought you already got him Bats!"

Bruce scowled, "No, there were too many people, I lost him in the crowd. I thought you caught him when you rounded up all of the others."

"No! I didn't see him! Bats he must have gone after the kids!"

Batman cursed colorfully, "We need to move. We have to find either him or the boys before he catches up with them."

"We don't know where they went and this place is huge, I'm going to go-"

"Don't." Batman cut him off, catching the other man by the arm, "You can't, don't forget this place is filled with traps and if nothing else the Joker is creative. We need to be careful."

"Well we know Kid doesn't have his communicator on him."

"No, but Robin does and he's with Kid Flash." he reached up and tapped the bud in his cowl, "Robin come in."

Batman's scowl deepened as he was answered with static, "It's no good."

"What?" Flash reached up to activate his own communicator, "Robin, Rob answer me!"

Batman put a hand on the other man's shoulder, "Don't bother, we're being jammed. Joker was well prepared for us."

"Super. Well anyway we need to-"

Flash was cut off by a loud clang, "What now?"

The heroes moved so they were standing back to back, searching for the source of the noise, suddenly metal barriers began slamming into place over the doors and windows, effectively sealing them in the room.

Batman glared at the heavy shielding, "He put more planning into this than I thought. Joker must have been working on this for months."

Barry turned around and fixed Bruce with a vicious glare, "Great, so he's been plotting what he was going to do to my kid this whole time? I thought you knew everything about everything that goes on in this city. How did you now know about this Bats? How?"

Batman moved to examine the barriers that were keeping them sealed in, ignoring the other man's questions, but Flash refused to be dismissed.

The Scarlet Speedster zipped around to block his path, glaring daggers at Gotham's protector, "How could this happen Batman?"

Bruce took a moment to take in the shorter man's body language; Barry was ridged, his fists clenched at his sides, and he looked off balance. He could tell that Barry's eyes were wide with worry, even behind his cowl; the other man's hands were trembling and he was certain that it wasn't being caused by his speed.

He sighed, "I'm worried too Flash."

Flash took a step back, anger draining away to be replaced by confusion, "What….?"

"I'm worried about them too. I realize you're angry, so am I, but right now we need to get out of here so we can find the boys."

Flash seemed to deflate as he sagged against the wall, "I'm sorry Bats. I'm sorry. I'm just so worried about Kid, he was in rough shape."

"I understand." Batman leaned over to examine the metal barriers, "Everything will be alright, Robin will look out for him. We need to focus on how to get out of here and take down The Joker."

Barry offered him a weary smile, "Yeah, and I know Rob'll take care of him. So now to work."

He moved to stand beside the Caped Crusader and pressed his right hand to the wall, "I can vibrate myself out and find the release. These barriers came down on the inside and only over the entrances, so it shouldn't be too thick."

Batman nodded, "I think that will be the best way."

Flash began to blur slightly as he sped up, "Just a sec."

There was a loud bang and Barry stopped vibrating to look curiously around the room, "What now?"

Batman looked around cautiously, "Someone's in here."

"You mean _beside_ the guys that are tied up?"

Several more loud bangs echoed in the room and the heroes moved so their backs were protected by the wall.

The noises got closer until they could see a seething mass of metal coming toward them.

Barry frowned, "What the heck?"

Suddenly a gigantic mechanical hyena jumped out at them, a metallic roar erupting from it's steel jaws.

Batman growled with annoyance as he reached into his utility belt and Barry threw his arms up in the air, "Oh come _on_! You have gotto be kidding me!"

The hyena took a swipe at them and both heroes dove to the side as it's claws tore into the wall, in unison they rolled to their feet and turned back to get a look at the damage.

Flash let out an impressed whistle, "Definitely want to steer clear of those!"

Batman's eyes narrowed as he flicked a batarang at the robot, "This is just a distraction while he goes after the kids. Take it down, now."

A blur of red streaked past him and slammed into the hyena, "You don't have to tell me twice Bats, I'm going to rip this thing apart!"


	6. Delays

"I hate clowns!" Barry growled out as he slid beneath the metal hyena, "I'm not too fond of robots at the moment either!"

Bruce ignored his frustrated teammate's chatter and leapt onto the remains of another robot, launching a handful of batarangs at the monstrosity that was currently batting at the speedster.

The weapons exploded on impact, causing one of the machine's hind legs to collapse and punching a hole in the thick metal of its body.

The Flash took the opportunity to tear into the robot's internal wiring almost before the explosion had dissipated.

Barry became a blur as he ripped the machine apart piece by piece, carelessly throwing the mangled parts around the room beside the remains of almost a dozen similar robots.

Batman ducked as one of the metal ears flew in his direction, when he righted himself he found the speedster standing over a pile of scraps.

The Flash turned back to him and he scowled, "I realize you're upset, but don't be so careless Flash."

"What's your problem?"

Batman crossed his arms in annoyance and nodded in the direction of the metal ear that was buried in the plaster directly behind him.

He remained silent, allowing the speedster to draw his own conclusions.

The blonde's eyes flicked over to the ear then back to his teammate and he had the decency to look sheepish, "Uh, sorry Bats, it's been a long day."

Bruce ignored the apology and jumped down, walking over to the metal barrier that was keeping them from chasing after their missing children, "You were saying that you could get us out of this?"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth the other hero was at his side, "It should be pretty easy, but….after everything that's happened and everything you said about traps I'm beginning to wonder if it would be that simple…"

Batman turned to see the Flash with his hand to his chin chewing thoughtfully on his lower lip as he gazed at the cold steel, "Kinda wish Supes was around to x-ray this thing you know?"

"For what it's worth I don't think he was expecting you."

Barry looked at him out of the corner of his eye, "How could he not know that I would come for Kid?"

The Dark Knight stepped forward, placing a gloved hand against the barrier, "It's no secret that I don't like outside heroes wandering around my city and I'm not known for partnering with others outside of Justice League business. I'm sure Joker is aware of that so he may have only been expecting me and Robin."

"Then he's as stupid as he looks. Even if it would make you mad at me I would tear apart this entire city to get my Kid back, and if I had been thinking clearly I would have called this in to the JLA and he would have a lot of angry heroes on his case," Barry growled.

Flash clenched his fists, but a vicious smile found its way to his face and Batman couldn't help but think that was very out of place on the normally light hearted hero, "As it is when they find out the Green Lanterns will be ready to kill him, not to mention what Jay and Canary will want to do to him."

"He's not stupid, he's simply underestimating my willingness to work with others. Trust me, it is a mistake he won't make in the future."

"Assuming he has a future," Flash murmured.

Batman raised an eyebrow beneath his cowl, the words had been spoken so quietly that he had almost missed them, but the tone in his teammate's voice was unmistakable and he made a note to keep a close eye on the speedster.

The Flash began to vibrate as he reached out toward the barrier, "I'm not waiting any longer, I'll just take my chances. Sit tight."

Barry blurred and stepped forward, passing into the metal, Batman crossed his arms, feeling slightly anxious as he waited for the speedster to reappear.

He didn't have to wait long, there was a loud clank followed by the squeal of metal on metal and the barriers began to rise.

Bruce crouched down to look through the gap to see Barry standing with his arms crossed tight over his chest and one foot almost a blur as he impatiently tapped his foot on the concrete floor.

As soon as there was room Bruce ducked underneath the metal and joined his teammate on the other side, he let his gaze wander over the hero checking for damage, "I take it there were no traps?"

"Not in the metal, I tripped a trap while I was looking for the release switch, but it didn't come close to hitting me. No sign of the kids by the way."

Batman frowned, "It's likely that they're still in the building. Joker put a lot of time and money into planning this. My guess is that he'll try to keep them trapped here so he can control the situation."

Barry cracked his knuckles, "He's going to find out it's not easy to control a speedster."

"Wait, we're not alone."

The Flash turned to him with annoyance, "What?"

Batman held a finger to his lips and pushed the Scarlet Speedster back around a corner until they were pressed against the wall.

Barry's frown deepened, but he didn't fight his companion, instead he followed the older hero's example and flattened himself against the wall.

"I swear if it's another robot hyena I'm going to shove my bright yellow boot up his-"

"Quiet," Batman snapped, putting an arm out to halt the other hero's protest.

The Flash shut his mouth as Batman cautiously leaned around the corner of their hiding place.

There was movement on the other side of the room and The Dark Knight leaned a bit further to see what was happening.

He heard hushed voices, but they were too far away to make out what was being said. He was about to suggest that they try to sneak closer, but before he could say a word the lights shut off, plunging the room into absolute darkness.

Batman's hand shot up to switch on the night vision in his cowl then turned to check on his companion.

The Flash was looking around in confusion, obviously unable to see, Bruce frowned, if a speedster couldn't see using their powers was far too dangerous.

By cutting the lights their enemy had essentially put the speedster out of commission.

With a sigh Bruce made a mental note to add night vision to his teammate's cowl, or at least make the man a pair of high tech goggles like the ones his nephew wore.

"Bats? Are you still there or did you pull a ninja on me?" The Flash whispered.

Batman turned and reached out to pull the other man's hand to his shoulder, "I'm here. Keep quiet and stay close."

The Flash nodded, knowing that his friend could see the gesture even if he couldn't see his own hands.

As Bruce leaned forward to peer around the corner once more an image of the Joker sneaking up on Dick and Wally entered his mind and he cursed under his breath.

He tried to push the thought to the back of his mind as he scanned the area for enemies, but he was a bit distracted by the sudden realization that he was almost as worried about the young speedster as he was for his own protégé.

Batman put a hand to his utility belt and extracted a batarang in an attempt to distance himself from his thoughts, but their smiling faces flashed into his mind and he couldn't help the way his lips twitched upward.

Gotham's guardian carefully moved forward, feeling the blinded speedster's grip on his shoulder tighten as he tried to match his movements.

He had been fond of Wally well before the team had formed, the red head was a good friend to Dick and he had long since proved that he was a trustworthy and loyal friend to have.

As soon as Dick had revealed his secret identity to him he had worked long and hard to get permission to bring his friend to the manor.

His protégé had even gone so far as to conspire with Alfred to get what he wanted and it wasn't long before Bruce consented. Despite his worries he had known he would give in sooner or later so he had decided it wasn't worth enduring his ward's sad eyes and Alfred's passive aggressive punishments.

He hadn't had time to regret his decision because as soon as had he told Dick the boy's eyes had lit up and he had his arms full of Boy Wonder.

After that the older teen had become a frequent visitor to the manor, and after getting over his initial aversion to the sheer amount of noise that the pair produced he had found he was beginning to enjoy the way they frolicked around the house.

Dick had brought life and light back into the manor and when he could hear their laughter and the sound of feet pounding over the hard wood floors they created a feeling of normalcy that he had never expected to experience.

He knew that Alfred enjoyed it too, the man had expressed it on more than one occasion, though it was always followed by a head shake and some comment about how much time he spent in the kitchen whenever the speedster visited.

There was a shuffling noise from across the room and the sound of something falling and he paused listening for any further movement.

The Dark Knight knelt behind a stack of crates, grabbing Barry's wrist and guiding the younger man down beside him.

As he turned his gaze toward the catwalks that criss-crossed the room his mind relentlessly turned his thoughts back to the missing teens.

After the formation of the team Wally had become more than just Dick's companion, as the one who was in charge of the team Batman had made the children his responsibility while they were on team missions.

While he had readily accepted that responsibility he hadn't expected it to extend to anything beyond the missions that he assigned to them.

However, the more time he spent looking after them, the more the feared Dark Knight had come to care for them, particularly Wally since he was a frequent visitor to Gotham.

In the end he had come to feel that it was his duty to watch out for Kid Flash, as well as the other children, regardless of the circumstances.

Batman firmly pushed the odd revelation and his concerns to the back of his mind so he could focus on the task at hand.

He reached up to tap the hand on his shoulder, the hand squeezed lightly and the pair moved deeper into the darkness.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Wally looked over at the door, then back at his friend, Dick was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at the door as though he could force it open by sheer force of will.

"So what now Rob?" he looked down at the water that was almost to his hips, "Any brilliant ideas?"

Robin shrugged, "If I can't open the door I'll just have to break it."

The Boy Wonder reached into one of the many pouches on his waist and produced a birdarang, "This should do just fine."

Robin waded back over to the door and raised his hand, "Watch out for any debris."

Wally raised his arm to protect his face as Dick used the birdarang in his fist to smash through the glass in the door. The speedster watched in slow motion as cracks appeared in the window, but rather than going outward like they should have, gallons of water poured in through the broken window, sweeping the shards into the room.

Kid Flash was standing against the wall beside the door frame, safe from the massive influx of water, but Robin was unprepared for the sudden current and the smaller hero was knocked off his feet. Before he could be swept up against the wall Kid Flash's hands shot out, catching his wrist and holding him until the water began to settle.

His injured limbs twitched and threatened to give out under the strain and he silently thanked the fact that Robin was still so light.

As the inflow slowed the young speedster looked down to see that the water was up to ribs, "This is very bad." he looked over at his friend, knowing that the younger boy was already having to swim to keep afloat.

"You okay dude?"

Robin coughed and reached up to push his wet bangs away from his face, ignoring the small nicks that were scattered along his face and arms, "Uh, yeah. Just a little waterlogged. You?"

Wally shrugged, "Wet, but no worse off than before," his eyes flicked down to the water that was now almost to his shoulders, "The water is rising fast, we should get out of here while we can."

"Right." the Boy Wonder swam to his side and put a hand on the speedster's arm, "Are you good to swim?"

The red head chuckled darkly, "Do I have a choice?"

"I guess not," Dick smirked and grabbed the older boy's wrist, feeling Wally automatically latch onto his wrist in return, "Just give me a squeeze if it gets to be too much."

Wally grinned, "Aww, I knew you cared."

Dick rolled his eyes though he knew the older boy couldn't see it and moved so he was perched on the now empty frame, then pushed off of the door, pulling his friend through with him.

At some point the lights had switched on, and the room was almost blindingly bright compared to the office where they had been hiding, they both paused blinking in the unexpected light, and stared around them. There were dozens of industrial sized pipes overhead, and all of them had burst in one place or another pouring hundreds of gallons of water into the room with each passing moment.

Both teens were forced to kick to keep their heads above the rapidly rising water and Robin's head whipped around as he searched for an exit.

Kid Flash let out a low whistle, "Gotta hand it to your bad guys Rob, when they plan a trap they really go all out don't they?"

Robin grunted in annoyance, "This isn't the time to be impressed KF." he turned his gaze upward, there were metal barriers covering the skylights, but he immediately spotted the catwalks above them lined with several doors.

Dick frowned as his gaze was drawn to one door it particular, it was obviously a trap, it was even open, just a crack, but it might as well have a neon sign pointing them toward some other nasty surprises.

"I guess…this is why… you couldn't open the door," Wally said, the words coming out between sputtering gasps.

Robin turned so he could face his friend, the red head was barely keeping his head above the water and his forest green eyes were darting nervously around the room.

His eyes flicked involuntarily to the open door, but he was reluctant to test his luck with the Joker's traps, especially with an injured speedster by his side. Instead he began swimming toward the portion of the stairs that were still above water, he pulled Wally up as high as he could and set him on the steps where he could lean against the railing.

Wally coughed and reached up to wipe the water away from his eyes, "Man, what did I do to deserve this?"

Dick's fists clenched at his sides, "We'll be fine, just hang in there."

Wally looked up at him so he plastered a smile onto his face, "Just wait here okay?"

As he turned to make his way back into the water he felt Wally grab his arm and he turned back to his friend, Kid Flash was watching him with a troubled expression, "Where're you going?"

"Joker is obviously trying to drive us into the upper levels so I'm going to dive down to see if I can find another way out or at least bust some of the doors open so the water can drain."

Wally looked at him doubtfully and he gave him what he hoped was a confident smirk, "Don't worry I'll be back in a 'flash.'"

The pun made the speedster chuckle and he released his hold on the younger hero's arm, "Okay, but be careful and you should ditch the cape first dude, it's going to drag you down."

Dick nodded and removed his cape, tossing it to the older boy, "Good call," with one final grin at his friend Robin stuck his re-breather between his teeth, and dove straight down into the murky water.

Dick was once again grateful for his mask, the lenses kept the gritty water out of his eyes and the enhancements allowed him to adjust for the lack of clarity and the lack of light and it wasn't long before he could see the floor.

With a few strong kicks he was level with one of the metal barriers, the Boy Wonder tapped on it and frowned to himself.

_No good, the water's distorting the sound, but it's a fair bet that Joker made it thick enough to withstand any explosives I carry. _

He looked around slowly, _But what about the wall next to it?_

Robin swam to the wall on the left side of the door and placed three of his exploding birdarangs on the aged plaster. He hurried to retreat to a safe distance and turned to watch his handiwork.

Dick watched anxiously waiting for the swirling cloud of dust to settle, but the lack of a current signaling that the room was draining made his heart drop.

When the debris was clear he swam forward once more to check the damage, the plaster of the wall had been blown away as he had expected, but below that was a layer of metal that he hadn't even scratched.

Robin fought the urge to sigh, _He's good. I bet he's got this whole place covered, and I don't have enough birdarangs to test the theory…._

He swam around the room, searching the area for a way out, unsurprisingly finding nothing useful.

He wasn't sure how long he had been underwater, but an image of Wally sitting alone on the steps entered his mind and he suddenly felt uneasy.

The Boy Wonder turned around, searching for the base of the stairs where he had left his friend; it wasn't long before he found them and he began kicking toward the surface.

As he swam he noticed a dark blob sinking toward him, he clenched his teeth around the re-breather and kicked harder.

When he got closer the blob moved and he caught a flash of yellow, he reached out to catch it and his stomach clenched painfully when he felt the familiar weight of Kevlar in his hands.

_My cape…_

Dick let the cape trail behind him as he pushed off of the stairs and shot toward the surface cursing himself for leaving his friend behind by himself.

Finally he broke the surface of the water, yanking the re-breather from his mouth and shoving it absentmindedly into his utility belt, "KF?"

He scanned the stairs and when the speedster was nowhere to be found his heart dropped to his toes.

Robin whirled back toward the water suddenly terrified that his friend had fallen in, he almost dove back into the water before logic caught up to him, "Gotta keep calm, if he had fallen in he still would have been near the stairs. There's no current in here to carry him away. So either he moved on his own or someone…"

He trailed off, not daring to finish his thought, instead he turned and sprinted up the steps hoping to find some clue as to where his friend had gone.

Dick quickly reached the top of the stairs and turned to look out over the walkway, his growing panic subsided when he caught sight of that familiar red hair.

Robin shook out his cape as he moved toward the other hero, "K.F. shit dude, you can't go disappearing on me like that," he paused, considering the irony of his statement, "Man never thought I would be the one saying that to you."

He smiled, expecting a laugh from his friend, but the speedster didn't move, his fingers tightened on his cape and he suddenly felt cold as he leaned down next to Wally.

The speedster was slumped against the railing and his eyes were closed, "Wally? You okay?"

Dick reached out and shook his best friend's shoulders, when that got him no response he put his arm around the older boy's shoulders and pulled him close.

Kid Flash's head lolled over to rest on his arm and Robin frowned, "KF?" the Boy Wonder reached out patting his friend's cheek, "Wally?"

AN:

First: I absolutely LOVE angry Barry.

Second: I love Papa Bats almost as much as I love angry Barry.

Third: I hope it makes sense for Bats to feel really responsible for the kids. At the very least I can see him (the YJ Batman) being concerned about Wally. Not only is Wally Dick's best bud, but Batman is ultimately responsible for the team's safety so to me it makes sense that he would start to worry about them. (Plus let's face it, Bats has a soft spot for kids, honestly think about how many kids that comic version has adopted. Him and Alfred are like the Bradgelina of the DCU.)

Lastly: I hope this is still interesting, I wanted to keep things moving, but honestly it was tough to think of a way to slow Barry and Bruce down. I have to keep them distracted so they don't just swoop in and take Joker down because, really, where's the fun in that? Please let me know what you think!


	7. Out of the Frying Pan

AN: Okay, I'm super sorry that this took so long, but I've been having computer trouble and I made it difficult to get anything done! However, as a thank you for everyone's patience I have produced an extra long chapter! I hope it was worth the wait!

"Wally?" Robin whispered, wary of using real names, but unable to stop the word from escaping his lips.

When he received no response from his friend Robin's hand shot up, his finger tips pressing to the red head's neck in search of a pulse.

In the same motion Robin leaned forward to place his ear in front of the speedster's lips.

There was a breathless instant that seemed to stretch on forever as he waited for some sign that his best friend was alright, and he felt as though he was getting a taste of the way speedsters experienced the world.

_Always waiting for something to happen._

He let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when the older hero's heartbeat thrummed against his fingers and Wally exhaled, tickling his cheek.

For a long moment Robin was unable to move, and he just stayed there reassuring himself that his friend was still alive.

Dick frowned as he counted Wally's heartbeats, the red head's pulse matched his own, a bit slow for a speedster, but it was still beating strongly and his friend's steady breathing helped to ease his concern.

Finally Robin sat back on his heels, carefully laying Kid Flash on the floor and tucking his cape underneath the older boy's head.

It was only after Wally was settled that he realized that something had changed while he had been underwater. He had been so focused on his friend that he had missed it, but now it seemed glaringly obvious and he knew Batman would be annoyed with him if he were present.

Despite their situation the room was eerily silent.

When they had broken out of the office they had been forced to practically shout at one another over the sound of the water pouring into the room, but now there was no sound aside from the water lapping gently against the walls.

Cautiously Robin turned his eyes upward, scanning the pipes overhead and his brow furrowed in confusion.

The water had stopped flowing completely and the breaks in the pipes were sealed with ice.

Dick's mind shifted into detective mode as he tried to process the situation.

After finding his friend he had initially assumed that Wally had moved on his own and had simply passed out from the effort. He grimaced as he realized that may not have been the case.

First of all he knew Wally couldn't have been the one to stop the pipes.

The speedster didn't carry any cryogenic weapons, in fact he didn't carry any weapons at all.

Robin was certain that there were no materials handy with which he could make one and Wally was in no condition to have gone to find the things he would have needed even if he had been able to find a way out of the room.

That meant that someone _else_ had been in the room, _alone_ with Kid Flash while he had been underwater.

For an instant he wanted to believe that Batman might have been the one to intervene, he did carry cryo-batarangs, but there was absolutely no way his mentor would have left an unconscious Wally on his own so he immediately ruled that out as a possibility.

Secondly, Wally had barely been able to stand even with help, so it was doubtful that he had made it the rest of the way up the stairs and halfway along the catwalk by himself.

Not impossible, but very doubtful.

_I…am an idiot._ _I left K.F. alone and **someone **put their hands on him. _

He clenched his fists as fear and white hot rage bubbled up from the pit of his stomach and he began checking Wally for any fresh injuries.

Some of his fears faded when he found no new wounds on his best friend, but that just left him even more puzzled.

Dick ground his teeth as he tried to unravel what he could only assume was another of Joker's mind games.

He glanced up at the ice again, it certainly wasn't Joker's style and he couldn't even begin to think of a reason why the clown would abort an effective trap.

More than that, Wally seemed no worse off than he had been before.

If this was Joker's doing he normally would have either found Wally's dead body, he shuddered at the image that thought produced, or he would have found a clue meant to send him running into another trap to save the speedster.

Dick grimaced as he felt a headache coming on, trying to figure out a madman was like trying to get Batman to talk about his feelings.

_Pointless._

What he did know was that the speedster had been at the mercy of whoever had been in the room and not only had they not injured him further, but they had also moved him well away from the rising water.

Presumably the person who had moved Kid Flash was an enemy, and yet rather than hurting him they appeared to have been trying to help.

Robin reached out to brush Wally's hair away from his face, "What the heck is going on around here?"

Dick let out a heavy sigh and sat down, leaning against the railing and watched over Wally as he tried to organize his thoughts.

He ran both his hands through his wet hair and took a deep breath, "Okay, KF's out cold, he needs to rest, but Joker's not exactly patient. I don't know where Batman and Flash are and I have no way to contact them. That ice won't last forever and the only way out that I can see is into an obvious trap."

He glanced down at the prone speedster, "Sorry bro, this has to be the lamest rescue attempt ever."

The red head had yet to stir and Robin felt compelled to check the other teen's pulse even though he could see his chest rise and fall as he breathed.

Dick looked around the room for what seemed like the thousandth time hoping to find something he could use.

His hands clenched into fists, "Crap this is so out of hand."

Even though he knew it was useless he tapped the call button on his communicator, "Batman? Flash?"

He was met with static and he fought the urge to growl in frustration.

"Okay, I can't just sit here and do nothing," he looked down at his friend, "I'm not sure I can carry KF like this…"

Robin pushed himself to his feet and stretched his tired muscles, "I should probably wake him up."

Dick's hand strayed to the medical kit on his utility belt, his fingers brushing the shot of adrenaline that would probably be enough to get the speedster on his feet, but he shook his head and closed the pouch.

_I should let him rest while I can_, he eyed doors that lined the catwalk, _At the very least he can stay here while I see I if I can get any of those doors open._

He glanced at the open door and frowned.

Robin silently edged closer listening for any sign that there was someone lurking just inside waiting for him to let his guard down.

Soon he was pressed up against the wall, carefully peering through the small opening.

The room was in darkness so he switched his mask to night vision, he saw nothing suspicious and there wasn't a sound coming from the other side, but he refused to believe that Joker had simply forgotten to seal a single door.

With Gotham's villains things were never what they appeared to be, a lesson he had learned the hard way.

He quietly edged back the way he had come and started in the other direction glancing at Wally as he passed.

He was pale, but he was resting peacefully so he moved on to examine the doors on the other end of the walkway.

As he had suspected the doors had been made water tight, it didn't surprise him, but it irritated him none the less.

He glanced back at Wally again, unwilling to let the older boy out of his sight for long, then glared carefully at the open door for a few seconds before returning to his inspection.

Robin was surprised when a drop of ice cold water landed on his ear and he shuddered as it sent shivers down his spine and raised goose-bumps on his already chilled skin.

The Boy Wonder's head snapped up fearing that the ice was beginning to melt and their unexpected reprieve would be over, but his eyes widened when they landed on a large hole in the ceiling.

The edges of the hole were jagged and iced over and he could only assume that he had missed what must have been a noisy event because he had been busy with his own explosions below the water.

His eyes narrowed, _Coincidence?_

Robin stood for a moment eying the ice, _Maybe Freeze has a beef with Joker and this happened to be the night he stopped by?_ _He probably wouldn't bother with Wally. Freeze is off the radar and weirder stuff has happened….._

Dick turned back toward Wally and broke into a brisk jog, _Either way, this is definitely not Joker's style and I'd rather take my chances with a weird hole in the ceiling than a not-so-subtle invitation into one of Joker's play rooms. _

He crouched at the red head's side and reached out to gently shake his shoulders, "K.F. you need to wake up." Dick paused as the speedster grimaced in his sleep, but he didn't wake.

Robin sighed and squeezed his shoulder with one hand while he reached for his medical supplies with the other, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to use this."

Just as his nimble fingers brushed the vial he was looking for the speedster stirred, his eyes scrunching up in discomfort and he paused, "K.F?"

Wally's eyes slowly blinked open, the normally bright green irises were cloudy with fatigue and Dick could tell that the speedster wasn't really awake, "Come on buddy, up and at'em, I'm gonna get you out of here."

He hovered over Kid Flash waiting patiently for his friend to reach full consciousness, Wally blinked rapidly as he began to focus, "Rob….?"

Robin forced a smile onto his face, "Hey Bro, what do you remember?"

Wally took a deep breath, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes, "Joker."

"Uh huh, what else?"

The speedster tried to sit up so Robin helped him until he was leaning against the railing, "We got caught in a trap, you were gonna find a way out…." Wally looked into the lenses of his mask, "Any luck?"

Kid Flash was sounding more coherent by the second and Robin's smile was a bit more genuine as he nodded, "It isn't really what I had in mind, but I think so."

"I knew you'd figure something out."

The Boy Wonder refrained from saying that he had nothing to do with it and placed a hand on the older teen's shoulder, "So do you remember anything about what happened after I went underwater?"

The red head shut his eyes for a moment as he thought, "I was watching the water, waiting for you to come back. I started to feel cold, then my vision started going black….then," he opened his eyes and looked at his friend with a troubled expression, "After that I don't know."

Robin bit his lip as he gazed at Kid Flash.

"Rob, did something happen?"

For a moment Dick considered telling the red head about his concerns, but the exhaustion in the older boy's emerald eyes and the way he was shivering made him reluctant to stress Wally's already overtaxed nerves.

"Robin?"

The Boy Wonder shook himself out of his thoughts and smiled, "Nah, you just passed out. Not too surprising after everything you've been through today, it's cold in here and you're pretty worn out, you probably just reached your limit."

Kid Flash watched him carefully for a moment and Robin began to wonder if he had failed to convince him when the older teen offered him a weary smile, "Well thanks for dragging me all the way up here. Sorry if I worried you."

Dick put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry about it. What are friends for?"

Wally laughed, "I'm pretty sure this goes above and beyond the Bro Code Rob, but thanks."

"Possibly, but you'd do the same for me. Anyway, we should get moving. Can you stand?"

"I…..think so.."

Robin scooped up his cape and put it back on then moved to stand in front of the speedster and held out his hands, "Give it a try."

Kid Flash nodded and held his hands out, Robin caught him in a firm grip and tugged the older boy to his feet.

Wally overbalanced and stumbled forward into the smaller hero's waiting arms, "Ow ow ow ow…."

Dick grunted at bit at the sudden weight, but stood still, letting Wally lean on him as his abused muscles adjusted. He knew from experience how sore his friend was, being forced to move injured limbs after they had become stiff with cold was never pleasant.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just need a sec," the older boy grimaced as he tried to steady himself, "I don't suppose Batman keeps a masseuse on staff at the Batcave?"

Robin laughed, "Unfortunately not, but I'm sure we can figure something out when we get home."

Kid Flash managed to right himself enough that Robin could move to his side to pull his arm over his shoulders, "We don't need to go too far K.F. we just have to get to the other end of the catwalk so we can get though the hole in the roof over there."

"Whatever you say Boy Wonderful, lead the way."

It took a bit longer than Dick would have liked for them to reach the opening, but soon they were standing looking up into the next level of the factory.

Wally gazed at the jagged hole and the ice and let out a low whistle, "Sheesh, if I didn't know better I'd day Captain Cold dropped by, did you do that?"

Robin reluctantly shook his head, "No, I'm not sure if it's Joker messing with us or if Freeze is having some sort of problem with Joker, but to be honest I don't really want to hang around to find out."

"I'm with you there, but why would Freeze be after Joker?"

Dick chuckled as he reached for his grappling hook, "Unlike your Rouges Gotham's villains don't have a social club. Most of them don't get along so they end up butting heads from time to time."

Wally shrugged, ignoring the way his muscles protested, "Well at least the Rouges aren't crazy. Gotham has more nuts than a walnut tree."

Robin snorted, "You come up with that one all by yourself?"

The speedster laughed, "You should be happy that I could think of anything at all, my brain feels all light and fuzzy and not in a good way."

"You don't have a concussion do you?"

Kid Flash made a vague gesture with his free hand, "With the way my day's been going it wouldn't surprise me."

Robin sighed, "Well hold on tight, I'm going to grapple us out of here."

Wally hooked his free hand into Dick's utility belt, "Y'know it's funny, you've been carrying me a lot today, usually it's the other way around."

Robin's grapple shot out, catching on the roof with a clang, "Yeah, well lets not make it a habit, you're heavy K.F."

The Boy Wonder hit the retract button as Wally chuckled, "Pure muscle Short Pants."

The next second they were airborne and Dick expertly kicked his legs out using the line's momentum to swing them up onto the next floor.

When their feet were firmly on a solid surface he hit the release on the grappling hook and tucked it back into his belt.

Wally looked around trying to get his bearings, "Okay this building is ridiculous, I have no idea where we are."

"I can get us out. We're in one of the crumby warehouse districts on the far side of crime alley, most of the buildings have a similar layout."

"I've knew there were some bad areas in Gotham, but it's such a well off city that I didn't expect it to be this run down."

Robin shrugged, "I'm not surprised. When you come here you're usually visiting me on the nice side of town."

The red head wrinkled his nose, "I think I like it better over there, it's not so dirty, with places like this it's no wonder it's so hard to find your baddies dude."

"Yeah, yeah. Flash said something similar when we first got here. We just patrol the place man."

"Sheesh touchy."

Robin glanced up at his friend to see the older hero smirking down at him and he rolled his eyes behind his mask, but a smile still found its way onto his face, "Sorry to offend your genteel mid-western sensibilities, I didn't realize you were so prissy Twinkle-toes."

Kid Flash's smirk faded into a pout and he stuck his tongue out at his friend, "So where do we go from here?"

Robin glanced around, easily locating a flight of stairs that he knew led in the direction the roof access door they had entered from, "Well, that's the way I came in with Batman and Flash."

Kid Flash stared at the darkened stairwell as though his mentor would appear there at any second, though given that he was The Fastest Man Alive Robin supposed it wasn't an unrealistic expectation.

The red head's hand unconsciously came up to press against his injured side, "Maybe we should go that way so we can try to get back to where Flash and Batman are."

Robin shook his head, "Bad idea," he tightened his grip on Wally's arm to get the speedster's attention back on him, "Did you forget that there are a bunch of homicidal clowns back there with orders to kill you? They told me to get you out so that's what I'm going to do."

He began walking toward the stairs with Wally limping along at his side.

"But what about Flash and Bats?" Kid Flash protested, "They're probably looking for us by now, and they might need help."

Robin huffed lightly, "I don't think you're up for helping anyone right now dude."

"Maybe not, but you could! I could just wait-"

"Not a chance," The Boy Wonder sighed and looked up at him, "They're big boys I'm sure they're fine. Besides, they're two of the toughest members of the league and they're together. I'm not about to take you back in there and I won't leave you by yourself. They'll have to manage without us."

Wally looked as though he wanted to disagree, but he bit back whatever he was going to say and nodded.

"Don't worry K.F., the Batmobile is just outside, we'll take it back to the Batcave, then we can call the JLA and they can send someone over to check on them okay? Everything will be fine."

They moved along in silence for a moment before Wally paused, pulling Dick to a stop beside him, the smaller boy looked up at him in confusion.

"K.F?"

Despite the darkness Robin could still see the mischief in his friend's eyes as he spoke, "So….Batman actually lets you drive the Batmobile?"

"I'm authorized to in an emergency."

"He's let you drive it before?"

"Well….he hasn't _let_ me per say…."

Wally laughed lightly, his face somewhere between a smile and a grimace as his laughter aggravated his wounds, "You took the Batmobile for a joyride didn't you? How come you didn't invite me?"

Robin huffed and began walking once more, "It was before you knew my secret identity…."

"I was just teasing dude."

Dick looked up at him with a grin, "You know, when you're feeling better maybe we should take it for a spin…."

Wally turned to him with a matching smile, "Okay, but you're driving, so if Bats asks I'm can tell him it was your idea."

"Fair enough. A'll probably get me out of trouble with one of his 'boys will be boys' speeches anyway."

"A's got to be the coolest old guy I've ever-ow!"

The pair came to an abrupt halt as Wally jerked his foot up, Robin looked up at him concerned, "What happened?"

"I stepped on something sharp. That freak took my shoes. Seriously, what the heck does he want with my shoes?"

Robin scrunched his eyes shut as the memory of his best friend's bright yellow boots laying in a pool of blood flooded his mind. 

When it came to speedsters red and yellow were the first things that most people thought of, but that was entirely the wrong shade of red and the image made him feel a bit ill.

Robin took a deep breath and let it out slowly, over the last several minutes he had almost been able to forget what the speedster had been through.

They had been talking so casually that it had become easy to forget about his bare feet, and ignore the blood that stained his tattered uniform.

Kid Flash was tired and hurt, but he had managed to stay as talkative and cheerful as ever.

He was brought back to reality as Wally leaned more heavily on him, he reopened his eyes to see the red head picking something off of his foot, "A-are you okay?"

Kid Flash put is foot down and raised an eyebrow at the younger boy, "I'll live…. Are _you _okay?"

Dick was glad that he had his mask to hide his own surprise as the red head looked him over with concern, as though he was the one who was injured and being rescued.

He looked up into Wally's eyes and was shocked when everything suddenly clicked. He thought back to the moment that they had found the red head: he had immediately tried to warn him about Joker's trap, and since then Wally had been talkative and playful.

Every time he had started to wallow in his worry and his guilt the other hero had said something to make him smile.

Dick's bright blue eyes widened behind his mask, _I thought he didn't notice how upset I was, but Wally's been trying to cheer me up the whole time. _

"Rob?"

The Boy Wonder smiled, "Yeah, I'm good, thanks.…," he glanced down at the floor, catching sight of Wally's bare feet, "oh, um I almost forgot. We have your boots."

"Huh?"

"They're in the Batmobile. Joker sort of…left them for us. He wanted us to know who had you."

"Ah, and here I just thought he had a foot fetish."

"Eww dude."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Barry bit back a yelp of surprise as he was suddenly yanked forward into the darkness, he stumbled into his companion and when he regained his balance he frowned up at where he guessed the other man's face was.

"What the heck Bats? You nearly pulled my arm out of it's socket," Barry hissed.

Batman grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him, then pushed him back until he was pressed against something solid, "A dislocated arm is better than a bullet in your head."

The speedster started, turning his head toward the sound of Batman's voice, "I didn't hear any gun shots."

"I didn't either, but I could see the muzzle flash. They're on the other side of the room, I count at least three snipers and they all appeared to be aiming for you."

Barry crossed his arms, "Well that's just super. We really don't have time for this."

"Believe me I know." Batman looked down at the other hero who was staring off into the darkness, "I think you should wait here while I go take them down."

"Bats-" 

"You can't use your powers right now. You'd only be at risk, and there is no way I can approach unnoticed if I'm dragging you along behind me. It would be better for you to stay here and I'll come back for you when the room is secure."

Flash sighed and reached up to rub at his temples, "I can't believe this, you know we're _supposed_ to be professionals here. I hope the boys are alright."

Batman firmly shoved his own emotions to the back of his mind and gave the other man's shoulder a comforting squeeze, "They're smart, I'm sure they'll be able to find a place to lay low until we find them, and Robin won't allow anything to happen to Kid Flash."

Flash smiled wearily into the darkness, "I know, just like I know Robin will do anything to make sure Kid doesn't get hurt, but I don't want _him_ getting hurt in the process."

"They'll be alright, now wait here."

"Right, right, be careful Batman."

There was no response and the Scarlet Speedster slumped back against the stack of crates that Bruce had situated him behind trying to sense whether or not his teammate was still nearby.

After a moment he decided that the Dark Knight was gone and he reached up to rub at his neck, "Oh boy."

It was silent for several minutes, but he tilted his head when he heard a shout and the sounds of a struggle somewhere on the other side of the room, _Sounds like Bruce has things under control._

Barry leaned his head back and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly in an attempt to calm his racing mind.

There had already been far too much waiting for his taste, and his inability to help in their current situation was beginning to eat away at his what was left of his patience.

The Flash began to silently drum his fingers against his thigh trying to dispel some of his nervous energy.

When that failed he started to recite chemical formulas in his head, but as he did he was reminded that it was one of the first techniques that he had taught to Wally as he was learning to cope with his speed.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind he lost what little patience he had managed to reclaim; suddenly all he could think about was his nephew and his best friend trying to stay one step ahead of an insane criminal.

_Bat or no Bat I should have just torn this place to shreds when I had the chance._

Barry reached up to tug irritably at his cowl then resumed tapping his fingers on his leg.

The speedster was grateful for the distraction when there was a soft noise off to his left.

On instinct the blond turned his head toward the sound; he held his breath for a moment, straining his ears, but the room was silent.

Even the noise across the room had stopped.

He slowly let out the breath he had been holding, wondering if he had imagined the sound or if it had simply been an echo from somewhere else.

After a long moment he allowed himself to lean back and he crossed his arms over his chest wondering why Batman was taking so long.

The Flash's fingers idly picked at his sleeve and he wondered why he was bothering to keep his eyes open when he couldn't even see his own hands in the darkness.

Barry grunted as a fist connected with his jaw and his head snapped to the side, his temple colliding with the crates behind him.

Stars burst in front of his eyes and before he could shake off the hit there was another blow to his stomach.

His first instinct was to take off and put some space between him and his attackers, but without being able to see his surroundings he knew he would probably just knock himself senseless.

Instead he stood his ground so when a fist connected with his shoulder his hands darted up and clamped down on the limb, "Gotcha."

The Flash pulled his attacker closer and with a few lightning fast strikes he felt the man go limp.

He felt the shift of air accompanying something heavy being swung toward his head and he dropped into a crouch, sweeping his leg out in an attempt to knock the other man's feet out from under him.

Barry smiled as his heel connected with his attacker's ankles and he heard the satisfying thud of a body hitting concrete.

With his momentary reprieve he swept his hands over the surface in front of him, quickly locating the first man and feeling his way to his face.

His smile widened when his hands found what they were searching for.

In the next second he had pulled his enemy's night vision goggles off of his head and placed them over the lenses of his mask.

It was a bit of an uncomfortable fit, but the speedster grinned as the world turned green and he was able to make out the shapes of the two unconscious men.

_Alright, back in action!_

He stood in time to see five more clowns headed in his direction, they were making no attempt to conceal themselves, obviously counting on the darkness to give them the element of surprise.

Before they had a chance to register their fallen comrades Barry had knocked them all unconscious and they fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

The Flash stood over them with a satisfied expression as he dusted himself off, _Pretty good for a guy who was fighting blind._

The speedster tensed as a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, "Bats?"

His answer was another hand catching his other side and he was twirled around to face an impossibly huge clown that he could only assume had bulked up on drugs.

With his world colored green it was impossible to tell what color the being's skin was, but it bore a remarkable resemblance to the blockbuster creature that the kids had encountered at Cadmus.

"Whoa, you're a big fella aren't you?"

Flash felt the bones in his shoulders grate together as the thug ignored the banter and lifted him in a crushing grip then hugged him to his chest in an attempt to squash him.

"Easy there sweet cheeks, I'm a married man!" Barry ground out and began to vibrate, faster and faster until he could smell the friction beginning to burn the flesh on the not-quite-human creature's arms.

He pushed himself faster, bringing his feet up to kick at the creep's stomach, he delivered several more blows before the clown finally howled in pain and dropped him.

The Scarlet Speedster fell into a crouch rubbing at his sore ribs, "Ouch." he looked up and shook a finger at his enemy, "No means no buddy."

The man responded with a growl and lunged at him, Barry dodged easily, then whipped around to keep his foe in his line of sight, "I have to warn you that I am not in the best of moods right now, so I'm not even going to try to take it easy on you."

The other man's voice came out in a rasp as he spoke, "Say that again if later if you're still alive."

Barry paused and put a fist on his hip, "You can talk? I was beginning to wonder."

The speedster ducked under the man's arm as he threw another punch and zipped around behind him, "You're never going to hit me like that."

Rather than turning back toward Flash the thug followed through with his blow, throwing his fist into the massive stack of crates and sending them toppling down toward Barry.

"Oh crap."

There was a loud crash as the crates broke open on the floor and clown let out a wheezing laugh, "What was that about easy?"

There was a much softer laugh from behind him, and Joker's henchman whipped around to see The Scarlet Speedster watching him with his arms folded, "Nice try, but for me dealing with the Laws of Gravity is optional. Nothing can fall fast enough to hit me."

The clown growled, but the last thing he saw was a smirking hero before his night vision goggles were ripped off his head and he was knocked to the ground by an unseen blow, "Your turn."

AN: Ugh, this chapter was a freaking monster! I actually meant to post this last night, but it totally got away from me Especially this last part, I must have revised the last page or so at least four times! so I apologize if parts of it seem to ramble on a bit... anyway I hope it was enjoyable. I promise in the next chapter the boys will get some real action so hang in there!


	8. And into the Fire

AN: New YJ eps! New YJ eps! NEW YJ EPS! I really liked Misplaced! Go Billy! Also, being a hardcore Wally fan I LOVED Coldhearted. It was nice to get to watch Wals be smart, sweet, and an awesome fighter, especially all at once. He really got a chance to mature in this episode, and I thought he handled Artemis' little revelation pretty well too (I'm being vague to avoid spoilers in case you haven't seen it, for the rest of you: you know what I'm taking about! Also, Megs isn't the only one who's green! lol)

Batman watched Flash settle himself back against the crates then scanned the immediate area for any potential threats.

Finding nothing he decided he would just have to trust the other hero to look after himself and slipped silently into the darkness.

He wasn't really comfortable with leaving the incapacitated speedster to his own devices, but he knew he had little choice if he wanted to gain some semblance of control over the situation.

The Dark Knight moved soundlessly through the room, being careful to remain hidden from the enhanced vision of Joker's thugs.

He easily found the stairs to the upper levels, but ignored them, they offered no cover and he knew if he used them everyone, aside from his own teammate, would know it.

Instead he climbed over a stack of crates then boosted himself onto some nearby machinery.

From there he grabbed the railing and flipped himself onto the catwalk with a move that he had picked up from his protege, though he would probably never admit to that fact.

Once he was above the room he was able to get a better idea of the layout and it wasn't long before he had located the snipers.

He made quick work of them, taking them down one by one: he appeared silently, knocking them unconscious, and dismantling their weapons then melting back into the shadows.

_This is sloppy, he must have thought of this as a last resort to deal with Flash. He knows that this wouldn't slow me down if I were on my own. _

Bruce took a moment to try and catch a glimpse of The Flash, but from the angle he was at he couldn't see the other hero.

He listened closely for as moment, but when he heard nothing he turned his attention to the dozen or so thugs that he could see scattered around the room and he wondered how many were being hidden by the haphazard maze of boxes that filled the area.

They were moving warily through the room, and every now and then one would glance upward, knowing from hard-earned experience that Batman preferred to attack from above.

Bruce almost smirked at the idea knowing that they would never spot him and continued his assessment of their situation.

_If I can get the lights on then Flash will be back in action, it will stun him for a second, but it will practically blind anyone wearing night vision goggles. _

There was a shout from below him and he looked down to see two of Joker's henchmen on the floor fighting while two more were trying to drag them apart and a fifth man leaned against the wall watching impassively.

After a brief scuffle the two clowns had been separated and he could hear them cursing each other, "You frickin' idiot. Watch where you're going! When you ran into me I thought you were the damn Bat! I was going to kill you!"

"Yeah right! You're dreamin' if you think you could kill Bat-breath. You're just mad 'cause you almost pissed yourself you-"

The fifth clown brought the butt of his sawed off shot gun up and hit both men in the back of their heads sending them to the ground clutching their skulls.

"You're both idiots. Like the Bat would actually run into someone like that. Now knock this shit off, you're giving away our location and if you don't do your job Joker'll be pissed and Batman'll be the least a your problems!"

The pair of hot heads grumbled as they stood rubbing at their undoubtedly sore heads, and the group moved to continue their patrol.

Batman glanced around to make sure none of the other patrols were near enough to help before dropping quietly to the ground behind the group.

In one motion he threw out a line that wrapped around the feet of the thug at the front of the group and pulled causing him to teeter and hit his head hard on the wooden crates.

A second later he dropped the line and sprang forward and grabbed the two closest clowns smashing their heads together hard enough to break the skin on their foreheads.

The last two clowns whipped around with their guns at the ready, but Batman was ready for them, a couple of well-placed batarangs made them drop their guns.

The Dark Knight's fist met the chin of one thug while he twisted so the weighted tips of his cape whistled through the air and connected with the last man's temple.

Bruce stood to survey his work, all of the clowns were down for the count and there had been almost no noise.

A couple minutes later Joker's henchmen were bound and gagged and strung up in the rafters and Batman had returned to the shadows of the upper levels.

He lurked silently on the catwalks as he moved around the room searching the walls. After several minutes he found what he was looking for, but he frowned when he realized that the clowns hadn't simply turned the lights off, they had broken the switch off the wall and the wiring had been ripped out.

Batman suppressed the urge to sigh and dropped to the lower level, catching himself of the railing before letting himself fall the rest of the way to minimize any noise.

After glancing around to make sure that none of their enemies had noticed him he leaned down to examine the mess of broken wires that were hanging out of the wall. _This would take far too long to repair._

Batman glanced at the door beside the destroyed switch before he straightened up and boosted himself back up onto a stack of crates, _It would be pointless and I can't leave Flash alone for that long, I should get him then get out._

He quietly moved from one stack to the next, easily avoiding the patrolling thugs and heading back toward his teammate.

Batman had made it almost half way when there was a grunt that echoed in the room followed by the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the floor.

"Damn!"

The Dark Knight abandoned stealth and took off in the direction of the fight, trying to calculate how long the speedster could cope without being able to see.

He was nearly back to the place where he had left his friend when he felt something grab his cape and yank him backward.

Batman grunted as he was pulled back the way he had come, there was a gravelly chuckle as he was flung into the air, but he ignored it and focused on flipping his body to break his fall.

On instinct gained from years of experience he managed to get his feet ahead of him, and when he hit the crates he bent his legs to absorb the momentum then pushed off of the boxes, catching himself on the concrete floor with his hands then flipping himself back onto his feet.

Bruce grunted as he righted himself and looked around for whoever had attacked him, _That was far too much force for a normal human and too coordinated to have been done by more than one person, _he frowned, _Does Joker have a meta working for him?_

He glanced around warily, listening to the sounds from the scuffle happening at the other end of the room.

Batman paused for a moment wondering where his unseen attacker had gone, but when the sounds stopped he decided that he couldn't wait any longer and he cautiously moved forward.

The Dark Knight peered around a wall of crates, when he found nothing and ran forward, finding the silence of the room more disturbing than the sounds of a fight.

He weaved through the aisles until a shout echoed through the room followed by a crash and the disturbing gravelly laughter that he had heard before.

Batman pumped his legs faster, on guard for any sign of attack as he wove through the room trying to reach the speedster.

He turned a corner and he found an impossibly large man laughing over a stack of fallen crates, "What was that about easy?"

He reached for his batarangs and for an instant he was worried that the beast had actually managed to crush the blinded speedster.

However, his concern was short lived as The Flash appeared behind the monster, "Nice try, but for me dealing with the Laws of Gravity is optional. Nothing can fall fast enough to hit me."

Batman watched the speedster rush forward and barrel into the thug knocking him to the ground before removing his over-sized goggles and his brow came together beneath his cowl.

The man-beast growled with rage and staggered to his feet swinging his meaty arms wildly, and Bruce could hear the smirk in Barry's voice as he taunted his opponent, "Your turn."

Batman watched, batarangs still at the ready as Flash landed more hits than he could count on the disfigured creature.

When Barry skidded to a stop to trip the clown attempting to chase him Bruce spotted the confiscated goggles over the lenses of his cowl.

He almost smiled when the creature tripped, falling head first into a stack of crates sending them toppling down on him.

Batman watched Central City's hero pat the dirt off his costume and cough lightly, waving the dust away from his face, "Sheesh."

The Dark Knight moved closer, carefully stepping over the debris to stand beside the speedster, "Flash, I see you managed just fine on your own."

The Scarlet Speedster turned to him with a grin, "Bats! Were you actually worried about me?"

Batman glared at the other man, but much of the effect was lost in the green hue of the night-vision goggles, "One wounded speedster is more than sufficient. This situation is irritating enough without you getting hurt too."

Flash grinned roguishly at the other man, but he didn't miss the way his jaw tightened and his hands clenched into fists, "Sure Bats, lets go with that. So I take it you got the snipers under control since there aren't any holes in me at the moment."

Gotham's protector frowned, "The snipers have been neutralized, and I found a door, so let's move."

As the pair started forward there was a roar and the fallen crates were thrown into the air.

Batman braced himself as one of the boxes flew toward him, bringing his armored forearms up to protect his head.

Before the crate made contact he felt himself being pulled out of the way; his night-vision blurred strangely, hurting his eyes and after they came to a stop it took a few seconds for his eyesight to clear.

"You okay Batman?"

"Speed and infrared don't mix."

The speedster's hands came up to rest on the older hero's shoulders while he steadied himself, "Sorry things were getting a bit messy back there."

Bruce blinked away the residual blurriness in his vision, "Where did it go?"

Flash pointed over his shoulder and he turned to see crates flying through the air while the creature howled with rage, his anger echoing loudly throughout the room.

"I thought we could use some breathing room. Any ideas? Because I've landed like 1,000 punches on that guy but he keeps getting back up."

Batman frowned as he watched the room being torn apart, "We don't need to bother with him. The boys are running out of time.

The Dark Knight turned away from the chaos and began to move toward the door, "He's getting closer, come on."

He had barely made it ten feet before Flash's voice reached him, "Uhh, I'm not sure that's an option Batman," Bruce felt himself being tackled to the ground, "Duck!"

Batman grunted when he hit the floor with the weight of the speedster pressing down on his back, an instant later the pressure was gone and he could hear Barry taking on the beast.

He swiftly pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the bruises he could feel at his elbows and turned to see the Scarlet Speedster holding back Joker's henchman, avoiding his flailing limbs, rushing in to land a few hits and darting away again.

The speedster ducked under one meaty fist, but he missed the thug's elbow coming around as the monster twisted in an attempt to catch him.

Barry was thrown backward into a fallen stack of boxes with the wind knocked out of him.

The creature let out a guttural laugh and tilted his head, listening closely as he moved toward the fallen hero.

When Flash didn't jump to his feet right away Batman sprinted forward and landed a few punches to the man-beast's back.

Once he had his attention he did a back flip to get out of the way of the arm that was swung in his way.

The bulky clown turned to face his general direction and took a few steps forward, as soon as he was far enough from The Flash, Batman launched a handful of explosive batarangs at their opponent.

The creature howled in pain and fell into a stack of crates ripping at his flaming clothing.

Batman took advantage of the distraction to run to Flash's side, the scarlet speedster was sitting up with a hand to his head.

As Bruce knelt beside his teammate he absently noted that the smaller man's night-vision goggles were cracked, but they appeared to be working, "Flash are you alright?"

The speedster sat up a bit straighter trying to shake off the hit, "Yeah, just rang my bell, I'm fine."

Batman gripped the younger hero's arm and hauled him to his feet, "Let me know when you're ready, I need you to distract him while I get in his face with some knockout gas. I should have enough to bring him down."

Flash rolled his shoulders, "Sounds like a plan. I'm good so let's do it."

Bruce looked him over for a moment before nodding, "Be careful about getting close to him again."

The speedster nodded then rushed over to where the grotesque clown was on his hands and knees, Barry's boot connected with the back of the monster' s head sending him sprawling to the concrete floor.

While the other hero took on Joker's science project Batman took to higher ground, clutching gas pellets in his hand and waiting for his opportunity to finish the fight.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

_Crap, ow, ow, ithurts, ithurtsithurtsithurts._

Wally couldn't keep a small gasp from escaping his lips as Robin led him up the stairs toward the roof.

He ignored the way the dark haired boy was watching him and reached for the railing to take some of the pressure off of Dick as they walked up the steps.

The younger hero would never admit it, but Wally could tell that he was beginning to tire and despite the fact that Robin seemed to think they were home free they weren't out of the woods yet.

Wally watched Dick's face out of the corner of his eye, he had learned a long time ago that stress was just as tiring as physical exertion.

Combining the two was a sure-fire way to wear yourself out and it had been a long time since he had seen his friend so tense.

_Not that I'm doing any better. I really need a nap._

He grunted and leaned a bit more heavily on Robin as his toe caught on the edge of the next step and he stumbled.

Dick turned to him and though his eyes were hidden behind his mask Wally could see he was alarmed, "K.F, you doing alright?"

They began moving again and Wally forced his grimace into a smile, "I'm...conscious," the red head let out a strained laugh, but Robin frowned, "Your face is going to stick that way bro."

The younger boy's frown deepened and Kid Flash let out a tired sigh, "I'm hanging in there dude."

For the first time since they had been reunited they fell silent, the only sounds his own labored breathing coupled with Robin's deep breaths just below his ear.

The speedster knew he didn't sound good and he was beyond relieved when they finally spotted the top of the stairs, a couple more steps and the door would be within arms reach and they would be able to get out onto the roof.

They made it up the next step and while the logical half of his brain was telling him everything that could go wrong, running one scenario after another, the optimistic side of his brain was beginning to believe that his ordeal was over and everyone was going to be fine.

The hand holding his wrist over Robin's shoulder tightened slightly, "Just a bit further, once we get out we can get away from here. We'll go back to the cave and everything will be fine."

Wally blinked down at the other boy wondering if Robin was trying to reassure him or himself.

He pushed the thought aside as they reached the landing, but before he could respond the door was torn open and they were face to face with half a dozen grinning clown masks.

There was a loud metallic clank from behind them, but Wally barely registered it over the shouting of Joker's thugs as they lunged for them.

Without a word spoken between them Kid Flash leaned on the wall allowing Robin to duck out from under his arm.

The Boy Wonder got the first clown with an uppercut then a kick to the gut that sent the man flying back into his cohorts.

With one down Robin sprang into the air aiming a kick at another thug's head, the kick connected and Wally watched as the younger hero twisted in the air to engage the next thug.

Kid Flash frowned when he spotted one of the other clowns move around behind Robin ready to grab him.

"Oh no you don't."

Before the man could lay a hand on his best friend the red head grabbed the collar of the man's shirt with both hands and yanked him backwards, twisting to knock his head against the door frame.

The man groaned and Wally shoved him back toward the other clowns.

Robin turned to him with a grin and a nod and sprang back into the air knocking out another clown.

The largest man in the group grinned viciously, carelessly walking on his fallen companions and grabbing Robin by his shoulders.

There was a loud squealing sound that echoed in the narrow space, Dick grimaced, but kept his focus on the man holding him.

Wally jumped and moved away from the wall, his head snapping around trying to find the source of the noise, "Rob...?"

There was another clang and he barely turned in time to see the clown suddenly throw Robin at him.

Wally grunted as the Boy Wonder hit him squarely in the chest.

On instinct Kid Flash put his arms out to catch him, but in the back of his mind he knew they were both about to go down the stairs the hard way.

_I really can't catch a break today._

Kid Flash was knocked onto his back and a hiss escaped his clenched teeth.

He lost his grip on Robin, and in the same second he realized that though he had landed on a hard surface it was also smooth.

His brain sped up and the world became sluggish and Wally looked down to see that the stairs had become a slide with Dick sliding down beside him.

He saw Robin's mouth moving, and he focused on slowing down so he could understand the words that were being drawn out by his accelerated mind.

Time sped up again and he reached out to catch the younger boy's wrist.

Robin latched onto his wrist in return and their masked eyes met, "Hold on, I'm going to grapple-"

The younger boy grunted as the slide twisted sharply and his head collided with a wall, dazing him.

"Robin!"

Wally strained to pull the smaller teen closer and looked up to see that the wall just above the bottom of the stairs had opened up and they had passed into a dimly lit tunnel.

_You have got to be kidding me! Joker really needs a new hobby._

Robin shook his head and tried to look around as they tumbled down the tunnel, "What the-?"

They slide curved again and a wall came into view below them, before Wally could do anything Robin managed to twist them so he was in front and positioned himself so he was going down feet first.

Wally reached out to clutch at the other boy's shoulders, "Rob!"

A few seconds later the tunnel opened up and Kid Flash's brain shifted gears again, he saw Robin's feet hit the wall in slow motion knowing that from the position he was in there was nothing he could do about it.

As strong as Robin was he knew the younger hero wouldn't be able to absorb all of their momentum and the next instant he could feel the jolt of the impact traveling up his spine.

Wally ran into the other teen, tumbling over him and scrunched his eyes up as he realized that there was no way he was going to stop without gaining a few new bruises.

With his mind in high gear watched Robin crumple against the wall and he even had time to wonder if the other hero was hurt before everything went black.


	9. Enough is Enough

AN: Extra long chapter, cause things needed to get moving! I want to thank all of you who have been reading this fic and a special thank you to the people who've been reviewing. I really appreciate all of your input, comments, and encouragement! Thanks! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

"Damn it!"

"What _now_?"

"Stubbed my toe."

"Well be quiet."

"It _hurt._"

"Shut it or your toe won't be the only thing hurt."

"You're such a grouch when you're working."

"Shut up."

"If I see one more Jack-in-the-box I'm going to gut the clown."

"Don't you start."

"You can't tell me you weren't thinkin' the same thing. I should just kill 'im"

"_Calm down_."

"It's not like anyone would miss 'im. I'd be doing the world a favor mate."

"Fine, can't say I wouldn't like to see him dead. You get a shot do it."

"I'm in too, I get a chance I'm making sure he never causes us this much trouble again."

"Go ahead, just don't start something you can't finish."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't be an idiot, you know what it means. Now all of you shut it and keep your eyes open."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"-in, Robin!" Dick's eyes shot open at the sound of his friend's voice, but his vision was blurry and he had to blink a few times to clear his vision.

He looked up to see a worried red head on his hands and knees leaning over him, "Thank God! Dude, are you okay?"

Kid Flash sat back, falling heavily to his backside as Robin sat up and repeated his question, "Are you hurt Robin?"

The Boy Wonder did a quick check of himself, testing his limbs and running his hands through his hair looking for damage, after a moment he turned to his friend and shook his head, "I'm fine."

Once he had confirmation that the younger teen was intact Wally's worry switched to indignation, "Dude! What the heck were you thinking? You could have broken a foot or an ankle with that stunt! You're lucky you didn't get a concussion!"

The speedster grunted as he shifted back to his knees and Robin bit back the urge to smile when Kid Flash's mood flipped once more, so quickly that only a Flash could manage it, changing from upset to concerned again.

Wally reached out to put a hand on the other teen's head, his fingers gently probing his scalp, "You sure you aren't hurt? You hit your head pretty hard."

Dick nodded, "Just a few bruises. I'm fine really."

Wally slumped a bit and let out a relieved sigh, "Don't scare me like that bro."

Dick rubbed at his neck and turned to examine the older hero, his face and his costume were smeared with dust and dirt and there was a smudge of dirt on his cheek, but he doubted that he looked much better.

He calmly let his eyes drift over the speedster's form, assessing his condition and his brows came together beneath his mask when he saw that some of his wounds had reopened in their fall.

Robin scooted a bit closer to his friend, "What happened while I was out?"

Kid Flash shrugged, "I don't know, I got knocked out too, I just woke up a couple of minutes ago."

Dick frowned, he was about to ask the speedster how he was feeling when a speaker crackled and Joker's voice filled the room.

The clown seemed to be singing to himself, the song was broken up by insane giggles, and they couldn't quite make out the words, but the effect was still enough to make their skin crawl.

Wally looked at him with a distressed expression on his face and leaned in closer to the younger hero, "This guy is the reason everyone hates clowns dude."

Robin would have laughed if the situation hadn't been so disturbing, "You don't know the half of it."

Joker kept singing, alternating between actual words and humming to himself, but it wasn't enough to cover the metallic whirring that filled the room.

Robin sprang to his feet, roughly dragging the speedster up with him, "We need to get out of here _now_."

Kid Flash let out a gasp of pain as Robin tugged him up and toward the wall, "Ow, Rob, don't freak out on me man."

Dick turned to snap at his friend, but when he caught sight of the speedster, his face pale and sweaty and his teeth clenched against the pain he bit back what he had been about to say and eased his grip on the older teen's arm.

Joker's laughter rang out, shrill and setting his teeth on edge, "Hello _sidekicks_! Are you frightened? If you aren't you really should be. I bet you're wondering where oh where Daddy Bats and Papa Flash have gotten to. Don't worry though, I'll take good care of you both!"

The Clown broke into laughter again, loud and bordering on hysteria.

Robin shuddered, his breath coming faster and his muscles becoming so tense that it was almost painful as he glanced around searching for an escape route and wishing they had never gotten separated from Flash and Batman.

Joker's laughter rang in his ears and he had to bite down hard on his lip to keep himself from shouting at the criminal to shut up, he had to appear strong for Wally and he didn't want to give the madman the satisfaction of seeing him lose control.

"Dude," he was broken out of his thoughts when Kid Flash's fingers wrapped around his arm and Robin looked over at his friend.

Wally was watching him with a mix of concern and anxiety, and though Dick could feel him trembling the red head seemed to be keeping his cool.

_How is it that he freaks out about all sorts of little things, but he always manages to keep it together when everyone else is about to lose it?_

Robin took a deep breath to calm himself, focusing entirely on his friend and ignoring the cackling that was now broken by ragged gasps, "Sorry K.F. I let him get to me. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Wally nodded as Dick readjusted his hold on the taller teen, pulling him closer so he could lean against his shoulder, "Maybe we can try to go back the way we fell down," he pointed to a hatch a few feet away, "If we get that open can you can grapple us out of here?"

Robin shook his head, "It was too smooth and twisty, I'd need something to fire at, something that could support us."

"It was narrow enough that you could probably climb up if you're careful," Wally pressed.

"Maybe, but I can't carry you and I don't think you're up for that kind of strain buddy."

The whirring sound stopped and they looked around to see that the room was now lined with televisions.

Kid Flash looked as though he was going to make another suggestion but he was cut off when the speakers let out an ear piercing whine.

Wally slumped a bit and his other hand came up to brush Dick's arm, "I really don't want to wait and find out where he's going with this."

Before they could make a move the room went dark and screens came to life all around them. Robin pushed Kid Flash back against the wall and stood half facing him as Joker's voice came on over the speaker again, "And now time for our feature presentation, please silence your cell phones!"

The criminal's insane cackling was doubled when a video began to play, Robin's eyes narrowed at the pasty face of the Joker laughing at them from every angle.

"Is this thing on? Good! We wouldn't want to miss this!"

Joker stepped away from the camera to reveal a warehouse that Dick was all too familiar with, only there was no blood on the floor…yet.

Robin felt bile rise in his throat as Joker made his way over to a half-conscious Kid Flash who was being held up by two of his henchmen.

The Boy Wonder was torn between horror and needing to know what had been done to his friend and he bit his lips hard as the Joker reached over to slap Wally's face, "Look alive there Flash Boy, we're making this movie as a present for your Bird-brained buddy, the least you can do is smile."

In the video Wally was struggling to keep his eyes open as the clown laughed in his face, "Now lets see here, we might as well make the most out of this opportunity, so how about we have a little chat?"

Robin felt his breath hitch in his throat when Joker produced a wicked looking blade and casually held it in front of Wally's face, already painfully aware that things were not going to end well for the speedster.

"Lets start with something simple. What's your name? And not your spandex name, I want the one Flash'll be sobbing out when he finds you." when he didn't receive an answer Joker ran the knife across Kid Flash's leg, the speedster gasped and Joker laughed.

Robin glanced back at his companion, his eyes drawn to the wound that he had just watched Joker inflict and he grit his teeth.

Watching The Joker harm his friend had a strange effect on him, on the one hand watching the clown hurt the speedster helped to ease some of the guilt that he had been struggling with.

When he could see the evidence right in front of him it was easier to push all of the blame onto Joker rather than blaming himself.

On the other hand the video stoked his anger, not just toward the villain who had dared to harm his best friend, but also toward himself for allowing the kind-hearted red head get caught up in Gotham's darkness.

He continued to stare at the injury until Joker's voice drew his attention back to the video.

He wasn't sure how much he had missed, but he looked up to see several wounds had appeared on his friend and Joker had the speedster's chin in his hand, "You're a stubborn one aren't you?"

The knife glinted in the low light of the warehouse and in the video Wally let out a strangled cry as the Joker swiped the blade across his shoulder.

"Well, I don't _really_ care who _you_ are. So let's try something a bit different."

The clown released the red head's chin and his head drooped, the green-haired criminal just laughed and his henchmen dutifully laughed along.

"Alright, I'll give you a chance to save your skin. So tell me kiddo, what's Bird Boy's real name hmm? You must know since you're such good pals."

Robin's hands unconsciously tightened around Kid Flash's arm, all his attention focused on the video, he watched as his best friend refused to answer, closing his eyes and tilting his head further from Joker.

The green haired man laughed, twirling the blade in his hands, "Ah, so loyal, how admirable, but would you really rather die than tell me?"

Robin scrunched his eyes shut as Joker placed the tip of the knife to Wally's abdomen, poised to inflict a wound that he was all too familiar with.

His eyes snapped open as Joker pressed down harder with the knife, drawing blood and the red head let out a pained noise, "Well? I'm waiting. Come on, I really can't take the suspense! It's driving me crazy!"

The speedster glared up at his captor through half lidded eyes, "Then you damn well better get used to it 'cause you're already crazy."

Joker threw his head back an laughed, "Now, now skippy, what would Papa Flash say if he heard you using such language?"

Wally forced his head up a bit and managed a smirk, "When Flash gets here...he's gonna rip you apart...if Robin doesn't find you first..."

Joker's mirth subsided as suddenly as it came and he viciously twitched the blade upward, a cruel grin spreading across his face when the teen bit back a cry.

Dick's head snapped around when he felt Wally shudder and he looked up at the speedster to see him staring at the screen with wide, troubled eyes.

Wally grimaced with remembered pain as the video showed Joker leaning forward, driving the blade deeper into the speedster's side, "What a lame comeback. You're not even trying Speedy!"

Robin's blood boiled as the red head's shaking hand sought his shoulder, though his eyes were still transfixed on the sight of the Joker's 'interrogation.'

Dick immediately caught the other boy's hand in one of his own, giving it a reassuring squeeze while his other hand dug in his utility belt.

He pulled out several birdarangs and a moment later each one had found it's mark in the center of the screens, causing them to shatter and spew sparks.

Robin drowned out the screaming laughter that echoed through the speakers a moment later, too concerned by his friend who was still staring up at the screens in shock.

Dick positioned himself directly in front of the older boy trying to catch his eyes, "KF, it's okay. Look at me dude."

Slowly Wally lowered his eyes to look at the younger hero, "…Robin."

The red head slumped forward a bit and Dick caught him, pulling him closer until his chin was resting on his shoulder and standing still while Wally took several shaky breaths.

Dick could feel the speedster's heart thudding rapidly even through the kevlar of hi uniform and grimaced.

He placed both hands on Wally's shoulders to steady him, holding him as tight as he dared and whispered fiercely in the taller boy's ear, "It's alright Wally, we're okay."

The speedster shuddered and shook his head as his hands came up to rest on Robin's and mumbled something that the dark haired boy didn't catch.

"What?"

Wally turned his face toward Dick's, his eyes wide and earnest, "I didn't tell him anything Rob, I swear I didn't. I promised you I never would and I didn't."

Batman's protégé forced himself to smile, "I know man, I trust you."

"Robin, I-"

Several loud thuds filled the space they were in and their heads snapped toward the source of the noise, Kid Flash's hold over Robin's hands tightened and the Boy Wonder shot him a reassuring smile.

The pair glanced cautiously at the three doors that had opened up in the once smooth surface of the walls.

There was no discernible movement in the dark corridors, but after a long moment Joker's voice echoed in the room once more, though this time there was not a trace of laughter.

When he spoke his voice was low and dangerous, "It seems you didn't like today's in flight movie boys, but now you have a choice to make. One of these doors leads to the outside of the warehouse, another leads to me, and the last one is a mystery prize..."

Robin reached up to switch his mask to infrared, out of the corner of his eye he could see Kid Flash fumbling with his goggles and reached to help.

Either he couldn't see that they were trying to ignore him or he didn't care, but Joker continued, "So what'll it be? Door number one, door number two, or door number three? Step right up kiddies everyone's a winner!" the madman's voice darkened further, "Don't take too long to decide though, if you don't choose I'll make sure you stay in that room with permanent smiles on your faces."

The speakers crackled once more then fell silent and Dick glared up at them in annoyance, "I am getting really tired of the carnival jokes, I know he's a 'clown' but there's a limit to having a theme."

Despite the desperate situation Wally let out a low chuckle, "You'd think that would make him more predictable."

Robin snorted as they started forward, "I wish."

They paused and glanced between the doors searching for some sort of hint, after a long moment Wally looked down at his friend and shrugged, "Eeenie, Meeanie, Miney, Mo?"

Robin laughed lightly at the childish solution, "Too bad we can't just flip a coin."

"Do you even have one? Scratch that, of course you do."

"Who do I look like, Two-face?"

Wally nudged him with his elbow, "Naw, you're too short."

Robin's retort was cut off when the speakers crackled again and the room was filled with the sound of a ticking clock.

The sounds echoed clear and crisp in the room until Joker's voice spoke softly over the repetitive sound, "You're running out of time and I'm running out of patience kiddies."

The tick tock of the clock continued, filling their ears and Wally grimaced, the pounding in his head intensifying and beginning to throb in time with the sound, "Something's going to happen to us if we stay here isn't it?"

Robin took a deep breath and nodded, "I think he's going to fill this place with Joker gas if we refuse to choose..."

"...this is really going to suck either way so lets just pick one."

"It's going to be bad KF."

Wally watched him carefully for a moment, weighing what he was about to say, "Rob..." Dick looked up into Kid Flash's tired green eyes and the older boy gave him a small smile, "I bet you could escape if you were on your own buddy."

The Boy Wonder blinked stupidly up at his friend, not that the speedster could tell, his brain willfully choosing to not understand what Wally was trying to suggest.

After a moment of silence Robin let out a breathless, "What?"

Kid Flash slowly pulled his arm away from the younger hero's shoulders, teetering dangerously as he turned to face his friend before he managed to right himself.

Robin automatically reached out to steady the injured red head, but Wally shook his head lightly and stumbled back until he was propped up against a wall, "Robin, go."

Dick shook his head, his brain still refusing to register what his best friend was asking him to do, "KF come on..."

"You can get out on your own." Wally's eyes softened, "You could have already escaped if you hadn't been so worried about me. You should leave and find a way out, you did your best bro, at least one of us should-"

He was cut off as Dick strode forward, his palm slamming loudly into the wall beside the taller boy's head, "_Shut up!_"

Wally jumped a bit as the dark haired boy's head snapped up so they were face to face, "I am _not_ abandoning you Kid Idiot. No way in hell. I'm not going to let you give up and I am not going to leave you here to die!"

The speedster cautiously reached up to place a hand on the other boy's shoulder, "I'm not giving up, but it makes sense. I can hide out in one of those halls, you can go ahead, get out, get help..."

"He'd kill you as soon as I left the building KF."

Wally gave his shoulder a little squeeze, "Maybe not, he's after you, not me."

"You don't understand!" Dick roughly grabbed his arms, "If we aren't going to play his game he won't see any more use in you. He'll kill you and he's cruel bro."

The speedster shuddered, his gaze sliding over to the televisions that were still spewing sparks, "I know Rob...I know."

Robin squeezed his eyes shut behind his mask, silently berating himself for his insensitivity, "I'm sorry," his eyes locked onto Wally's once more, "I can't leave you, I won't, please...don't ask me to do that again. Ever."

Wally closed his eyes for a moment, when he opened them they were filled with sadness, gratitude, and relief.

"He might kill us both...," he whispered, voice thick.

Dick let out a shaky chuckle and forced a smile onto his face, "Well, we died together once before, so at least we know what to expect."

Kid Flash let out a choked laugh, "That's right huh? I guess since we've already been there, done that we don't need to do it again."

Robin frowned playfully and snapped his fingers in mock annoyance, "Dang it, I guess we'll just have to live forever then won't we?"

"I guess so." The red head glanced over at the open doors, "We should get going then, someone's got to tell Joker he's wasting his time."

Wally looped his arm across Robin's shoulder's once more and the pair headed toward the middle door; Dick grinned up at his friend, "Ooo, can I be the one to tell him?"

"Sure, you can tell him when you shove a Birdarang up his ass."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Barry let out a choked gasp as he was knocked to the ground.

He coughed, trying to get air back in his lungs as he rolled away from the clown that was stamping around in the darkness trying to stomp on him.

The Flash pushed himself into a crouch, twirling on his heel to face the thug and he was pleased to find that he was standing almost directly in front of Batman's hiding place.

The bruised speedster glanced up at Batman through his cracked goggles, signaling for his companion to be ready.

The Dark Knight nodded and Barry accelerated as quickly as he could in the confined area, throwing his shoulder into his opponent and sending him stumbling into the stack of crates where Batman was perched.

At the last possible second he darted away; as soon as the speedster was clear Batman jumped onto the man-beast's shoulders.

The clown reacted violently, shouting as his meaty hands reached for his assailant, but he was too slow to stop Batman from smashing a handful of knockout gas pellets into his face.

In the same instant the Scarlet Speedster delivered another blow to the creature's belly, causing him to gasp and inhale the gas.

Everything went quiet as the thug teetered for a second, his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air.

Suddenly he let out a groan and toppled forward, Bruce balanced himself on the man's shoulders, jumping off right before he hit the ground with a resounding thud.

Batman turned, his hands at his utility belt, watching their opponent for a moment to be certain that he was really down for the count.

Satisfied that the thug was unconscious he crouched and pressed two fingers to the massive neck in search of a pulse.

The man was relatively unharmed so he turned, his eyes searching for his teammate, "Flash?"

Barry emerged from behind a demolished stack of boxes rubbing at his shoulder, "Is he down?"

"Yes," Batman glanced at his friend's hand, still massaging his shoulder while he rotated his arm, "Did you hurt yourself?"

The Flash let his hand fall to his side and shook out his limbs, "I think I'm just bruised, maybe a sprain, hitting that guy was like running into a brick wall. What about you?"

Batman shook his head, "I'm not injured. You did most of the fighting."

Barry started to shrug then thought better of it, "I think I'd be sporting more than a few bruises if you hadn't been here, so let's just call it 50/50"

Bruce didn't respond, instead he glanced around the room, "I think the room is clear."

Flash started moving in the direction they had been going before the clown had caught up with them, "Let's go Bats, that was a huge delay and I have a horrible feeling that the boys need us. I should never have sent them off by themselves."

Batman frowned, "You couldn't have known what was going to happen. The blame isn't entirely on you, it's a basic rule of combat that you don't fight with the person you are trying to protect in the same room. Aside from that I should have realized what was going to happen. Joker is a lunatic, but he is meticulous."

Flash let out a short laugh, but there was no humor in it, "Great, then how about instead of blaming ourselves we start blaming the guy from the carnival of horrors."

They made it to the door and Bruce reached out to open it, but neither of the heroes were surprised to find it locked.

Batman began to examine the door, his brow coming together beneath his cowl, "This door has been sealed shut, it looks air tight."

"I'm not wasting any more time trying to figure out that freak."

Before Batman could make any move to stop him the speedster blurred and stepped through the door.

Bruce straightened and crossed his arms, ready to wait while his companion found a way to open it from the other side.

He wasn't waiting long though, a moment later the blond came tumbling back out again, soaking wet and coughing.

Bruce jumped forward to pull the other man to his feet and patted his back while he hacked up water, "What happened?"

Barry coughed once more then straightened himself out so he was eye to eye with his companion, "You were right about the door being sealed, but it's not meant to be air tight, it's water tight."

"Did you find anything?" Batman asked his question calmly, but Flash could hear the unspoken thought because it had crossed his mind the moment he had become tangible again in a room full of freezing cold water.

"Joker flooded the next room, I almost drowned myself in the process, but I did a quick check of the entire area. The water reaches almost to the catwalk, but I didn't get a good look up there, I was more concerned with checking the area that was underwater..."

He reached out to put a soggy hand on the other man's shoulder, "There was no sign of the boys Batman."

At his words Bruce felt some of the rigidness leave his shoulders, though he had suspected that would be the case.

If Flash had found the boys he would have either brought them back with him or he wouldn't have bothered coming back before dealing with the Joker.

Batman turned to Flash who was trying to squeeze some of the water out of his suit, "We still need to check the upper levels. It's obvious that someone set off a trap so they must have passed through there. We might be able to find a clue as to where they went."

Flash put his hands on his hips, "I can vibrate through again and check, now that I know what to expect I won't half drown myself."

Batman shook his head, "Head up to the next level and use friction to melt through the door."

Flash frowned, "That could take awhile."

"I'll be right behind you. You just need to weaken the metal enough that I can use explosives to get through."

"Right, see you up there."

Barry disappeared with a streak of red and reappeared on the catwalk a second later.

Batman pulled out his grappling hook and fired it into the rafters, then hit the retract button and swung onto the catwalk behind Flash, "Ready?"

"Almost."

The speedster worked silently until the door was hot enough that Batman could feel the heat radiating from the metal even from his place behind the other hero.

Flash stepped away from the metal that was glowing red, "You should be able to blast through it now," he zipped over to stand behind his teammate, "Go for it."

In one quick motion Batman launched three batarangs at the door.

They hit the searing metal and exploded on impact blowing the door to pieces.

As soon as the explosion settled the men ran through the opening and along the catwalk in the next room, searching for their lost children.

It quickly became clear that they were the only ones in the room and Bruce was slightly surprised when Barry swore loudly, though he agreed with the sentiment.

"Where are they?" The Flash turned and slammed his hands down on the railing, gripping it tightly, "This is a nightmare! I feel like I'm losing my mind! Kid..." 

While he waited for Barry to regain his composure Bruce took to examining the room.

The first thing he had noticed had been the only open door in the room, a door that was almost certainly an invitation to another death trap.

He ignored it for the moment and focused on the evidence in front of him, glancing up at the melting ice with a frown.

He knew that Robin generally didn't carry cryogenic weapons and the same was true of Kid Flash.

Batman's detective's brain was telling him that there was someone else involved, someone that was not the Joker.

As far as he knew, and he knew a lot more about the clown than he liked, Joker had never used ice as a weapon.

That meant that once again an ice villain had crossed his path and he had to stamp down on the urge to add it to the data from the other places the ice villains had been to search for a pattern.

He frowned, beginning to wonder if the boys had been the ones to set off the trap at all.

"Hey Batman!"

The Dark Knight turned to see that his friend had recovered from his outburst and moved to the other end of the room, "Come look at this!"

Batman ran to the other man's side and followed his gaze to the ceiling and his eyes widened behind the lenses of his mask.

There was a large hole in the ceiling opening up into the next floor.

Barry crossed his arms, "What do you make of that?"

"It just confirms any suspicions that we are not Joker's only visitors."

"I was thinking the same thing. No way the kids did this, but I still feel like they came through here."

Batman crossed his arms, "Perhaps, but then the question becomes: Which way did they go from here?"

Flash turned to him with an annoyed look, "They had to go through here. Where else would they go?"

Batman jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "There's an open door over that way."

"Did they blast through it like we did? I'm not sure Kid was up to that."

Bruce shook his head, "It doesn't appear to have been sealed like the others, so it's likely that the water was meant to drive them into the next room."

"Another trap."

Batman nodded, "Robin would know that. There is no way he would go that way if he had another option. So the question becomes, when was this hole made?"

"Before or after Joker forced their hand right?"

"Yes."

Flash's face darkened and the worrisome edge that Batman had heard earlier had crept back into his voice, "I swear Joker is going to pay for this, those boys better be alright."

Cautiously Batman reached out to place a hand on the normally lighthearted man's arm, "Focus on the kids Flash, Joker has to wait until we know they're safe."

Barry turned to him and for once Bruce had difficulty reading his expression past his cowl, "I know, and they're my priority, but he's not coming away from this Scott-free. Not this time."

Flash sighed seeming to let go of his anger for the moment and glanced up, "That way?"

"I think that will be our best bet."

Without another word the Dark Knight fired his grapple gun through the hole in the roof, Barry grabbed onto his utility belt and the next moment the two of them were on the next floor.

The speedster frowned, "Wait, we were here before."

Batman pointed toward a flight of stairs, "This is the way we came in."

Flash's mood seemed to lighten considerably, "Robin would recognize this! I bet he already has Kid outside in the Batmobile!"

He dashed forward, taking the stairs two at a time with Batman on his heels.

They came to an abrupt stop when they found the pile of unconscious clowns in the open door way.

The Flash let out a low whistle, "Since there's no ice I'm guessing this is Robin's handiwork."

The two of them picked their way over Joker's thugs, Batman pausing only to knock out a clown that was beginning to stir.

They stepped out into the freezing night air and Barry was suddenly grateful that almost every inch of him was covered and that he had managed to shake off most of the water, "I'm going to look for them."

Once again the blond didn't wait for a response and took off into the darkness.

Batman reached up to press his communicator hoping that whatever Joker had done to block them was only effective inside the building, "Robin, status."

The Dark Knight frowned when he was once again met with static and he pressed his comm again, "Flash do you read?"

A second later Barry's voice answered, "I read you. No sign of the boys and your ride is still here."

Bruce swore, "They're still inside, something happened and they didn't get out."

"What? How do you know?"

"Whatever was blocking our communicators obviously only works inside. I tried calling Robin but all I got was static, so they must still be inside."

"Damn, I'll be back at your position in a second."

Almost before he finished his sentence The Flash was standing beside him, "We have to get back in there."

Batman nodded and without any further discussion the two of them ran back into the building.

Flash led the way back to the hole above the water room, barely staying at a speed that Batman could follow, and pausing just long enough to allow Batman to drop down, leaving his line for the speedster to slide down after him.

Then they were off again, running headlong into a trap and no longer caring as long as they could find their missing partners and put an end to a night that had already been far too long.

AN: We're in the home stretch folks! Also I just realized that Bruce is the only one who isn't banged up at this point. I think it's because he's the g*damn Batman. That's the only explanation that I could come up with. Also: After "Performance" I fell in love with Rob/KF bromance all over again! Lol bologna...


	10. Hints and Theories

As soon as they crossed the threshold into the center tunnel the door came crashing down and the corridor was plunged into darkness.

Robin and Kid Flash stood still for a moment as the lenses over their eyes adjusted to compensate for the lack of light.

The pair looked around warily, examining their surroundings.

The narrow corridor was covered with what appeared to be metal sheeting; the floor, the ceiling, and all four walls were made of the same smooth material.

"Wow, y'know, in a weird way I'm sort of flattered." Kid Flash murmured.

Robin turned to him with an incredulous look that was lost in the darkness, "_What_?"

Wally glanced over at him, "This took a lot of planning and all of this must have cost a fortune. Seems like a lot of trouble to go to just to mess with us."

"Dude, he wants to kill us."

"I know, but _why?_ Why now?" the speedster huffed.

"I don't know," Robin grumbled, "He's crazy remember?"

Kid Flash took a deep breath through his nose, "He's not actually crazy, he's a sociopath, crazy people can't tell the difference between right and wrong. Joker can definitely tell the difference, he just likes being evil."

"Whatever KF! Why is this bothering you so much?"

Wally paused to shoot his friend an annoyed look, "Seriously? Maybe because he was going to cut my head off and mail it to my uncle?" the speedster continued ignoring the way Dick's head snapped around to look at him, "Anyway don't you always say figuring out the motive is like the number one thing on a Detective's list? If we can figure it out won't that help?"

Robin frowned at Wally as he began to ramble, "I don't get it. I mean, I guess it would make sense if he was after the big guns, but I don't even have anything to do with him, so I'm not really important, you maybe, but not me, not really. He could've just shot us, or blown us up, or dumped us off a bridge or-"

Dick cut off his friend as his words began to run together, "KF, buddy, stop talking, I think you're delirious."

Wally leaned into the smaller teen's shoulder and sighed heavily, "You think so? My head does feel kinda fuzzy, but I don't hurt as much anymore, everything is sort of numb. I really want to have food though. Too bad you don't carry more snacks in that belt of yours."

Robin patted his friend's back with a strained laugh, "Sorry buddy, when we get out of here you can stuff your face as much as you want okay?"

"Mmmm," Kid Flash let his head fall over until it was resting against Robin's shoulder, "Do you think we have time to take a break?"

"I'm not sure that's a great idea Kf," The Boy Wonder glanced around searching for any hidden traps in their surroundings.

There was nothing outwardly threatening, but with the Joker that didn't mean much, "We probably aren't safe here."

He looked over at Wally and into the darkened lenses of his goggles.

Dick frowned, he couldn't tell if the speedster's eyes were opened or closed and he briefly wondered if Wally ever got frustrated trying to read him without being able to see his eyes.

_Then again he always seems to know what I'm thinking._

They continued on in silence, the speedster letting his younger friend guide him and dutifully putting one foot in front of the other.

The tunnel turned out to be longer than they had expected, it curved gently to the left and after only a few minutes it became clear that they were walking up a incline.

The incline was gradual and normally the young heroes would have hardly noticed it, but they were both tired. Their adrenaline was beginning to wear off and Dick was supporting much of the older boy's weight so it wasn't long before they were covered in a light sheen of sweat.

As they continued Wally's breathing became heavier and his free hand was once again pressed to his side.

Robin sighed, giving in to his concern for his friend and ignoring Batman's voice in the back of his mind reminding him of how dangerous it was to stop in the middle of enemy territory.

"Maybe we should take a break, nothing has happened so far so I guess this is as good a place as any. We should probably come up with a plan of action too."

The pair stopped and Wally tilted his head to look at his friend, "I'm thinking we escape before Bozo the Clown offs us."

"Gee, what a great plan, that hadn't even crossed my mind." Robin muttered drily as he positioned Kid Flash so he could slide down the wall to the floor.

Wally grunted as he settled himself on the floor, both hands now pressed against his wound, "Ha, ha, cut me some slack, I'm running on empty."

Dick swallowed a sigh as he looked over the older teen, "Sorry KF, here let me get a look at that."

He reached into his utility belt, fishing out a small flashlight, Wally pushed his goggles up onto his head to avoid being blinded by the small light and Dick switched off the night-vision in his mask before he flicked on the light.

With the flashlight he was finally able to get a good look at his friend without the distortion caused by the night-vision.

Kid Flash was sweating, his face was pale and his breath came in uneven puffs of air

A tremor rant through the red head's frame and Dick's heart twinged with guilt and sympathy.

_We can't keep going like this, dragging him around while trying to fend off Joker is going be the death of him._

The thought had just been a figure of speech, but his eyes went wide and he shuddered as he realized that had probably been the Joker's plan all along: to wear Wally down, then make them run and fight and struggleuntil the speedster finally gave out.

Joker knew that The Boy Wonder was every bit as stubborn as his mentor, knew there was no way he would just sit back and wait to be rescued, knew he would push his friend to continue.

Suddenly the ridiculously elaborate, repetitive traps made sense: the villain just had to provide the obstacles and Robin would do his work for him, in trying to rescue his friend he would hurt him.

Joker was using his own personality against him, counting on the determination and tenacity that made him a force to be reckoned with on the streets.

Robin shuddered, _Wally was right, I was too worried and too busy thinking about escaping to think clearly about the situation. Batman is going to have me train until I drop for this._

As Robin ran his flashlight over his friend's injuries he tried to convince himself that he was over-thinking the situation, but he had heard Joker dare Batman to kill him enough times that he could recognize the madman's desire to drag them down to his level.

_And I've been playing right into his hands, _he put a hand on Wally's head, smoothing his bangs back so he could get a clear look at his head injury and the speedster grimaced, "I'm sorry."

Wally smiled at him, "Don't worry about it."

Dick's grip on the flashlight tightened and he pursed his lips, unable to tell the speedster what he was really apologizing for.

He pushed his self-deprecating thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on the task at hand.

Robin could see that Wally's condition was deteriorating, with every step they took, _That I made him take_, the nasty little voice in his head reminded him, he was getting a little bit weaker.

His speed healing was still trying to work, but in their struggle to avoid Joker's traps they kept reopening his injuries and the stab wound in his side had begun bleeding again.

It was slow, but he could see fresh blood darkening the already stained fabric of Kid Flash's uniform, and the normally welcome aspect of his powers was simply draining what little energy Wally had left and wandering around was only accelerating the process.

Robin chewed his lip as he set aside his light and pulled some gauze from his utility belt to press against the wound, _He wanted to find Batman and Flash, but I thought I knew better,_ he fought the urge to break something, _So now I think I know what Joker is trying to do, but Wally is right, why? Why him? And what prompted all of this?_

He bent over his friend, his free hand settling over his chest, searching for the reassuring the thump-thump of his heart.

Normally Wally's heartbeat was impossibly fast, thrumming away like a humming bird.

Robin knew that when he had been running the speedster's heart actually did hum because the individual beats were too fast to distinguish, but now it was relatively slow, beating at a rate that nearly matched his own.

He pushed aside the urge to hug Wally, making sure to keep the gauze pressed against his side, "I'm sorry," he repeated, not knowing what else to say.

Dick felt the red head shift then a warm hand patting his shoulder and he looked up, meeting the bright green eyes that glinted in the light from his flashlight.

Wally offered him a reassuring smile, "Stop saying sorry, we're gonna be okay Rob."

"KF I..." the words caught in his throat so he swallowed and tried again, "I'm going to get us out of this, I promise."

Wally's smile widened, "I know, we always seem to find a way out of the messes we get into."

The speedster tried to push away from the wall, so he let the flashlight rest on the older teen's lap, freeing up a hand to push him back.

"Stay still, you're bleeding again. I'm going to do what I should have done back when we were trapped in the water room."

Wally wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at his best friend, "What'd you have in mind?"

Robin couldn't help but chuckle, "I'm going to bandage you up idiot."

"I guess that's good too," the red head sighed out, and let himself sink back against the wall and closed his eyes, "What time is it?"

Robin didn't look up from the bandage that he was now winding around Kid Flash's torso to keep the gauze in place, "Does it matter?"

"Gotta be pretty late by now...m'really tired."

"KF."

"Probably past midnight..."

"Fleet Feet."

The red head looked up into his friend's mask, "hm?"

"It's 1:37."

"Oh," Wally gave him a small smile, "Thanks."

"Sure thing."

"Is it too early for breakfast, or should I just have a midnight snack when we get back?"

"When we get home you can have whichever you want. Heck you can have both, plus lunch and dinner, then breakfast again okay?"

Kid Flash laughed lightly, "That sounds awesome," he watched Dick's hands securing the bandages around his ribs as he spoke, "So, what's the plan Boy Wonderful? Because I'll bet you twenty bucks that Joker and a horde of his henchmen are waiting for us at the end of this tunnel."

"Or another death trap."

Wally flashed him a mischievous grin, "Wanna bet?"

Robin laughed and offer his hand to the speedster, "You're on."

They shook on it then burst into laughter, allowing themselves to forget everything just for a moment.

After their laughter had died down Dick moved to sit beside his friend with their shoulders pressed together.

Dick nudged Wally with his shoulder, "Okay, here's what I'm thinking: we were in some sort of sub-level which is why we're on an incline now, but the incline is pretty subtle to I think we're just returning to the ground level."

Kid Flash nodded, "I'm with you so far."

"Right, so this is a pretty big building and like most factories it has open levels so we should have a clear shot to the ceiling."

"Okay."

"So, I think that our best bet is going to be grappling to the upper level and trying to get out through the roof. Once we get out we head right for the Batmobile. If we can get to the car then we can get out of here."

"Solid plan, but why do I feel like that's easier said than done?"

Robin smiled ruefully, "Maybe because with Gotham's bad guys it always is?"

The younger hero stood and leaned down to help Kid Flash to his feet, "Come on, lets get this over with."

"Sure, but I don't suppose you have any pick-me-ups in that utility belt of yours do you?"

Dick latched onto the wrist at his shoulder, holding the red head against his side, "I do have a shot of adrenaline, but I don't know how effective it will be on your metabolism."

"Hmm, how much you got?'

The boy wonder shrugged, "Enough for about three doses for me. I don't know what that equates to for you though."

He looked up, watching as even in his exhausted state the speedster did the calculations in his head, "Well with my metabolic rate, which is lower than usual right now since my energy is so low, and the fact that I weigh more than you I'm guessing it would last me around eighteen minutes, give-or-take a couple minutes."

"Okay, well that should at least give us time to get out once we get up there, we just have to time it right."

"Yeah," the speedster shot him a small smile, "So we have a plan, that's good."

"It's not much of one."

Wally shrugged, "Better than nothing."

They continued in silence for several minutes, every sense on alert for another of Joker's surprises.

Eventually, they came to a door with a single sputtering fluorescent bulb casting the area in a sickly light.

The door had been hastily painted, one half red, the other black, with crude diamonds of opposite color accenting each side.

The young heroes looked at each other and Kid Flash shrugged, "Harley? Those are the colors she wears right?"

Robin shook his head, "Can't be, she's in Arkham. I arrested her and dropped her off there myself a month and a half ago."

"Does that really mean anything? These kinds of bad guys escape all the time. Just try to keep a Rogue locked up for more than a month or so, it's tough."

"Well, it's a little late to reconsider now."

The Boy Wonder reached into his belt and, at a nod from his companion injected the adrenaline into the speedster's leg, then he replaced the syringe and pulled out a tazer that he pressed into Wally's hand, "Just in case."

Kid Flash nodded, "Good idea, thanks."

After a moment Wally felt the injection begin to take effect and he let go of his companion, to stand on his own.

Robin noted that the red head was still a bit unsteady, but some of the color had come back to his cheeks.

The each took a deep breath as Robin wrapped the fingers of one hand around the paint-splattered door knob, his staff held ready in the other,"Ready?"

"Ready."

The Boy Wonder yanked the door open, blinking rapidly to help his eyes adjust to the sudden light from the next room.

Both young heroes took a step into the next room, their faces set with determination.

Kid Flash glanced at his companion out of the corner of his eye, "Dude, you owe me twenty bucks."

AN: Well, that's Dick for you. That guy always blames himself when things go wrong. Sorry it took me so long to get the next chapter up, I'm getting ready to graduate from college this semester and I've been caught up dealing with life, and a of a sudden it's been a year since I wrote anything for this story! I hope people are still interested because I do intent to finish this. Also, please don't even get me started on how Invasion ended. I'm trying very hard to forget that last episode exists so I can leave it at that. I...really don't want to talk about how much DC hates Wally. Anyway, I hope this chapter was good! I went back and re-read the previous chapters to make sure it flowed well, but comments and constructive criticism are appreciated.


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